Jonah Hill, in the process of the building a thriving filmmaking career, and Keanu Reeves, riding high thanks to the ultra-popular John Wick: Chapter 4, are teaming up for a dark Hollywood story.
Apple Original Films has picked up Outcome, a dark comedy that Hill will direct and has co-written with Ezra Woods.
Reeves is in negotiations to topline the feature, which will also star Hill.
Outcome will star Reeves as Reef, a damaged Hollywood star who must dive into the dark depths of his past to confront his demons and make amends after he is extorted with a mysterious video clip from his past.
Hill, clearly no underachiever, will also produce Outcome with Matt Dines, his partner at their Strong Baby banner. The project will be an Apple Studios production.
The deal finds a home for Outcome, which hit the town as a hot package back in November. The project was picked up in a competitive situation but the length of time closing a deal shows how tight the current market is for high priced packages, even ones with high-list talent. Filmmakers, stars, and their agencies are finding out that the buyers are being more choosy, and more stringent, when it comes to buying.
It does help that Reeves is now enjoying a career zenith. Wick 4 opened to a franchise best $73.5 million at the domestic box office and it’s also one of Reeves’ career-best openings. The movie now has over a $247 million global tally after just 12 days of release.
Outcome keeps Apple in the Hill business as it continues to stack its movie portfolio with some of the biggest stars in Hollywood.
Hill and Apple Original Films are developing a Grateful Dead biopic with Martin Scorsese’s Sikelia Productions, which will be directed by Scorsese, with Hill starring and producing with Dines under Strong Baby.
Strong Baby most recently produced the Netflix comedy You People starring Hill, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Eddie Murphy and Lauren London. Hill, best known for his comedies and his Oscar-nominated performance in Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, made his feature directorial debut with 2018s well-received coming of age drama Mid90s. He followed that up with Stutz, 2022’s critically acclaimed documentary that tackled mental health issues.
Apple, which last year became the first streamer to win a best picture with its drama, CODA, has two major entries due to debut this year. In October, it will release Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, as well as newcomer Lily Gladstone. In November, it will release Napoleon, Ridley Scott’s historical epic starring Joaquin Phoenix. Both are getting theatrical releases before hitting the Apple platform. Also in post is high-concept romantic action adventure movie Ghosted, starring Chris Evans and Ana de Armas.
Hill and Strong Baby are repped by WME, LBI, and Yorn Levine. Reeves is repped by WME, SUGAR23 and Ziffren.
