Goodrich: Everything We Know About The Mila Kunis-Michael Keaton Comedy
It seems there's a new portmanteau of an actor's name and the word "renaissance" cropping up all the time. In the early 2010s, we had the "McConaissance" and now Oscar winner Brendan Fraser is enjoying his own "Brenaissance." Michael Keaton, however, escaped the dreaded portmanteau when he re-ascended to superstar status with 2014's "Birdman." And he's since maintained that status with memorable turns in everything from the Oscar-winning "Spotlight" to Hulu's excellent chronicle of the opioid epidemic "Dopesick" — even debuting in the MCU as Vulture in "Spider-Man: Homecoming."
Soon, Keaton will be returning as Batman in "The Flash," some 30 years after walking away from the role. He's also gearing up for his directorial debut with "Knox Goes Away", which means that the 71-year-old is still a very busy man.
Now, according to a Deadline report, he'll be starring alongside Mila Kunis in "Goodrich," which looks set to bring Keaton back to the family-friendly comedies he was known for in the '80s — kind of. The film sounds oddly reminiscent of his 1983 breakout "Mr. Mom," which featured the actor as a recently laid-off engineer who's forced to adapt to becoming a stay-at-home dad. Want to know more? Read on for everything that's been revealed so far about "Goodrich."
What is the Goodrich release date, and where can you watch it?
As of now, there is no official release date for "Goodrich." The project was first announced in April 2019, when Deadline reported that a new "drama," written and directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer, had received multiple bids from distributors and financiers, especially after Michael Keaton was attached to star.
Since then, "Goodrich" went to the European Film Market in February 2023, before it was announced that Mila Kunis, fresh off producing and starring in Netflix's "Luckiest Girl Alive," had been cast alongside Keaton. At the time of Kunis' casting, "Goodrich" was being described as a "comedy" rather than drama, and it was confirmed that Meyers-Shyer would begin shooting in April 2023, directing from a script she wrote. According to a May 2019 article from The Hollywood Reporter, filming was originally due to start in the fall of 2019 but was obviously delayed.
With production yet to get underway, we're still far from an official release date for "Goodrich." Depending on how long the shoot lasts, post-production will likely start later this year, which means we could see the movie debut in early 2024, but that's just speculation at this point. By now we know "Goodrich" is set to be a dramedy that takes some influence from "Mr. Mom" or "Night Shift" — two of Michael Keaton's best movies — so it's unlikely filming will take too long, considering there'll probably be little in the way of complex visual effects or stunt work.
We'll update this page with more release date details as soon as they become available.
What is Goodrich about?
According to Deadline, "Goodrich" is set during "the holidays" in present-day Los Angeles, and will see Michael Keaton play art dealer Andy Goodrich. In a similar plot to "Mr. Mom," the film will focus on Goordrich as his second wife leaves him to enter a rehab program, leaving him to take care of their two nine-year-old twins as he grapples with threats of divorce from his wife.
Mila Kunis will play Goodrich's adult and pregnant daughter, Grace, who steps in to support her father even though it sounds as if he was never there for her in the way she needed. Will lessons be learned? Of course, they will. According to the brief synopsis, Goodrich will "evolve into the father Grace never had" by the movie's end, suggesting there'll also be a heavy dose of heart-warming character evolution.
When "Goodrich" was first announced, Deadline described the project as "a potential tour de force for Keaton the way that 'About Schmidt' was for Jack Nicholson." That 2002 effort from director Alexander Payne contained its share of humor but was a more somber affair than the '80s comedies that launched Keaton's career. And as more news about "Goodrich" has emerged, it seems the project will lean more on the charming comedic sensibilities of its star's early films. As writer-director Hallie Meyers-Shyer explained:
"'Goodrich' is an homage to the films of the '70s and '80s that brilliantly melded comedy with drama, films directed by greats like Mike Nichols and James L. Brooks. I wrote this film for the incomparable Michael Keaton and I can't wait for audiences to see Michael back in the genre where we all fell in love with him."
Who's in the cast and crew of Goodrich?
So far, Michael Keaton and Mila Kunis are the only confirmed cast members for "Goodrich." Keaton, who plays the title character, has had a string of successes of late, turning in a Golden Globe and Emmy-winning performance in Hulu's "Dopesick" and playing U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark in Aaron Sorkin's legal drama "The Trial of the Chicago 7." Meanwhile, Kunis, who's seen success with "Bad Moms" and recently starred in Netflix's adaptation of Jessica Knoll's novel "Luckiest Girl Alive", will play Goodrich's adult daughter Grace.
As previously mentioned, Hallie Meyers-Shyer is set to direct the script she wrote. She made her directorial debut with the rom-com "Home Again" — a film where Reese Witherspoon, you guessed it, goes home again. Elsewhere, Jason Cloth and Dave Caplan will produce. The pair represent C2 Motion Picture Group, which is financing "Goodrich." Daniela Taplin Lundberg, of Stay Gold Features — who worked on "The Kids Are All Right" — will also produce, alongside Kevin Mann.
And perhaps the biggest producing credit comes in the form of former Sony Pictures boss Amy Pascal, who's helped shepherd the Tom Holland-led Spider-Man movies. Pascal will executive produce alongside Keaton and Kunis.
It's still early days for "Goodrich," which means there'll be plenty more news to come. So stay tuned to this page as and when it becomes available.