Kerry Washington and Omar Sy Starring in ‘Shadow Force’ for Director Joe Carnahan
Changes are afoot on the Lionsgate action-thriller.
Kerry Washington on ABC's 'Scandal.' Photo: ABC/DANNY FELD
Back in late 2020, it looked like action thriller ‘Shadow Force’ was coming together at Lionsgate with Kerry Washington and ‘This is Us’ star Sterling K. Brown in the lead roles and ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ second unit director Victoria Mahoney taking the main job.
Things have changed since then, however, as Deadline report that, while the film remains set up at the studio, only Washington is still attached from that original list.
Joe Carnahan, who wrote the movie with the superbly named Leon Chills, is stepping up to direct it.
‘Shadow Force’ follows an estranged couple with a bounty on their heads who must go on the run with their son to avoid their former employer, a shadow ops unit that has been sent to kill them.
Omar Sy, known for ‘Jurassic World’ and Netflix’s crime drama ‘Lupin’ is on board to star opposite Washington. Brown, though he’s no longer in the cast, is still a producer via his Indian Meadows Productions company.
Omar Sy in 2016's 'Inferno.'
“Omar is at the top of his powers – combined with his global stardom, he’s ideally suited to co-lead this action-drama with Kerry, whose talent as an actress and a producer is unbounded,” says Lionsgate Motion Picture Group President Nathan Kahane. “We’re thrilled to be working with the production team of Stephen, Kerry, Sterling, and Pilar, who have shepherded this story of a family in peril from the beginning, and with Joe, who will bring a unique, visceral style to the film.”
Carnahan, of course, has made a trademark of frenzied action movies, and most recently brought ‘Copshop’ and ‘Boss Level’ to the screen, both of which starred his regular collaborator Frank Grillo. Could that mean we’ll see Grillo pop up in ‘Shadow Force’ as part of the former employer-turned-threat? Don’t count out the idea.
Sy will be back on our screens this summer reprising his role as Barry Sembène in ‘Jurassic World Dominion’, which stomps in on June 10th and sees the original ‘Jurassic’ trio of Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum reunited onscreen for more dino-chaos. And while there’s no set date, there should be another season of ‘Lupin’ on the way, which has proved to be one of the most entertaining series on Netflix’s roster.
Washington, last seen in ‘The Prom’, has Paul Feig’s ‘The School for Good and Evil’ due on Netflix this year, where she co-stars with Michelle Yeoh, Charlize Theron, and Laurence Fishburne. That movie has yet to specify a launch date.
With luck, ‘Shadow Force’ will actually kick off shooting this year, though we must admit we’re a little sorry to see Mahoney drop out of directing. Still, if Carnahan brings his visual zip and anarchic sentiments to the movie, it could be something really fun, and very different for Washington in particular.
Shadow Force
An estranged husband and wife with a bounty on their heads who must go on the run with their son to avoid their former employer – a unit of shadow ops that has... Read the Plot
