Chris Pratt, one of the highest-grossing actors around, has a shocking amount of time to kill. The next JURASSIC WORLD movie isn’t shooting yet, and his next two big projects, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 3 and COWBOY NINJA VIKING, have been delayed indefinitely. Now that he’s got a big gap in his schedule, the actor has signed on to do something outside his recent franchise work by entering negotiations for the new directorial effort from HELL OR HIGH WATER and SICARIO scribe Taylor Sheridan.
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Variety got the exclusive that Pratt is in talks to work with Sheridan on the action-thriller with the working title “Fast,” which centers on the leader of a black ops strike team going after a drug cartel that's protected by the CIA. David Heyman (HARRY POTTER) is producing the flick, which will be the second directorial work from Sheridan after his movie WIND RIVER was released last year.
Word is Sheridan has been wanting this to be his next movie for some time and has been meeting with other A-list actors all summer. Warner Bros. wants a big name leading the project, as the budget is reportedly in the $75 million range, with the intent to turn the series into a new franchise. Pre-production was halted for a time so Sheridan could work on the second season of his show YELLOWSTONE, which worked out well as that delay left time for a star like Pratt to become available.
If WB is looking for a new franchise, they could find fewer stars more capable to lead it than Pratt. Two have the actor’s 2018 movies, AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR and JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM, have made a combined $3.3 billion around the world, and then you can tack on the $1.6 billion from the two GUARDIANS movies. On top of all that dough, you can tack on another $1.6 billion from the first JURASSIC WORLD, meaning Pratt is the goose you want if you’re looking for some big, fat golden eggs.
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Not only is it a smart move for WB to cast Pratt, but it’s an even smarter move for Pratt to accept it. The actor has stuck close to his franchise films, and other movies like PASSENGERS and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN have yet to really take him out of that comfort zone. He needs a gritty, dramatic role to really branch out and show what he can do as an actor, and there’s no one better for that right now than Sheridan. He’s one of the best writers working today, seamlessly blending hard-edged, gripping thrills with poignant storytelling, and his directorial debut was nothing short of impressive. This is a project to look out for, and hopefully, something else in Pratt's schedule doesn’t interfere with it happening.