Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail and Julia Roberts have worked together multiple times already. She starred in the series Homecoming, which he co-created; he was an executive producer on the limited series Gaslit, which she starred in; and she starred in his thriller Leave the World Behind, which was a big hit for the Netflix streaming service, landing on their list of Top 10 Most Popular Movies. As of right now, Leave the World Behind stands as Netflix’s fifth most popular English-language film of all time, with 143.4 million views. Last month, we learned that Esmail and Roberts are going to continue their working relationship with another thriller, this one called Panic Carefully… and since then, Esmail has been building a supporting cast around Roberts. Elizabeth Olsen (WandaVision) Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything), and Brian Tyree Henry (Eternals) are in there, and now Deadline reveals that the cast has been rounded out by Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones), Joe Alwyn (The Brutalist), Naledi Murray (Sweet Tooth), Ben Chaplin (September 5), and Sebastian Orozco (The Crow).
Details on the roles the cast members will be playing have not been revealed.
Esmail will be directing Panic Carefully from his own screenplay. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but the project is being described as “a paranoid thriller in the vein of Esmail’s Emmy and Golden Globe winner Mr. Robot, as well as The Silence of the Lambs.“ According to The Hollywood Reporter, the story involves the hunt for a cyber terrorist.
The project went out to assorted studios and streamers earlier this year, kicking off an intense bidding war. Warner Bros. came out the winner of that bidding war, and Deadline notes that their victory was “in part due to their commitment to a theatrical run.” So, while Esmail and Roberts had great success taking Leave the World Behind to streaming, they want this one to get more play on the big screen. (Leave the World Behind got a limited theatrical release about two weeks before it started streaming.)
Esmail and Chad Hamilton are producing Panic Carefully for Email Corp. Roberts is also producing the film, as are Scott Stuber, Marisa Yeres Gill, and Lisa Gillan. Kevin McCormick and Chrystal Li are overseeing the project for Warner Bros. Filming will take place in England.
What do you think of Aidan Gillen, Joe Alwyn, Naledi Murray, Ben Chaplin, and Sebastian Orozco joining the cast of Panic Carefully? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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