Upcoming Hugh Jackman Movies To Keep On Your Radar
(Welcome to On Your Radar, a series where we take a look at what's next for the biggest actors and filmmakers, and why you should be excited...or not.)
Singing, dancing, stabbing people in the face with his metal-laced bone claws — Hugh Jackman truly can do it all, as he's spent the last two decades proving. Not much has changed in the years since he hung up his Wolverine claws for good with his turn in 2017's Oscar-nominated "Logan," either, with Jackman continuing to bounce around from one type of live-action genre film to another. He's also found time to work on a handful of animated projects, including lending his voice to Laika's acclaimed stop-motion comedy adventure "Missing Link" and Netflix's adult comedy series "Big Mouth" (in which he voiced an, ahem, piece of human anatomy that resembled his likeness).
What's next for the one-man singing, dancing, stabbing sensation? Well, as much as some people would like to believe he's secretly gearing up to reprise Wolverine in the MCU or holding out hope he'll finally make "Real Steel 2," neither of those things seem to be in the cards for now. All the same, Jackman does have some intriguing movies in some stage of development, all of which should allow him to really flex his dramatic acting muscles (assuming they come to pass).
The Son
Playwright Florian Zeller came out swinging with his feature film directorial debut on 2020's "The Father," an adaptation of his own play that snagged Oscars for both its script (which Zelller co-wrote) and Anthony Hopkins' performance as a octogenarian struggling with dementia. Zeller has since finished production on his followup, "The Son," a movie based on another one of his plays, forming a trilogy with "The Father" and the as-yet unadapted "The Mother."
This time around, it's Jackman who stars as Peter, a man whose life with his new partner Beth (Vanessa Kirby) and their baby gets thrown into chaos when he ex-wife Kate (Laura Dern) re-enters his orbit with their teenage son, Nicholas (Zen McGrath). Hopkins also co-stars in "The Son," but it sounds like the film will serve first and foremost as a chance for Jackman to once again remind everyone how compelling he can be on-screen, even when he's not throwing punches or singing to the back row. (See also: his turn in "Bad Education.")
"The Son" doesn't have a release date yet but looks to arrive in 2022.
Enzo Ferrari
Enzo Ferrari, the founder of the Italian luxury sports car manufacturer that bears his last name, was, at most, a tertiary character in "Ford v Ferrari." However, he will get the spotlight mostly to himself in the upcoming "Enzo Ferrari," a biographical drama that "Heat" and "Collateral" director Michael Mann has spent a long time trying to put together. In its current form, the film would take place in 1957, a year in which Mr. Ferrari (whom Jackman is attached to play) was beset with both personal and financial problems, leading him to have his company compete in the infamous Mille Miglia (a dangerous 1,000 mile open-road race that claimed the lives of many drivers).
It seemed like "Enzo Ferrari" was closer than ever to becoming a reality back in June 2020, with Jackman starring and Mann directing from a revised script he wrote based on an earlier draft by the late Troy Kennedy Martin ("The Italian Job" — as in, the 1969 version, not the 2003 remake starring Mark Wahlberg). The plan was to start production in the spring of 2021, but without any major updates since then, it's unclear whether this one is still actively moving forward or has fallen off the (race) track again.
The Good Spy
"The Good Spy" is another Jackman vehicle that seemed on the verge of taking off back when it was announced in May 2018 but has since found itself in a holding pattern. Keeping that in mind, Jackman looks to star in the film as Robert Ames, a real-life CIA operative who specialized in the Middle East and, at one point, served as the agency's chief analyst for the region.
Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur ("2 Guns," "Everest") was previously said to be circling "The Good Spy," with F. Scott Frazier ("xXx: Return of Xander Cage") penning the script based on Kai Bird's non-fiction book. Since then, though, it seems Kormákur decided to pass on the movie in favor of making "Beast," a thriller that pits Idris Elba against a lion (sounds legit). IMDb now lists Palestinian filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad ("The Mountain Between Us") as being lined up to call the shots on "The Good Spy," although it's hard to tell how accurate that information is or what it means for Jackman's involvement.