EXCLUSIVE: Apple Original Films and Skydance are continuing to build on their strong ties with another star-studded project as sources tell Deadline the two are partnering on the action-adventure tentpole Mayday with Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh starring and Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley directing. Sources tell Deadline the script has been done for some time, well before the Writers Strike started.
The action-adventure feature is based on an original pitch from Goldstein and Daley, who came to Skydance earlier this year with the idea, and has been developing prior to Apple’s involvement. Once Reynolds showed interest in April to join the pic, the project started gaining serious momentum and while a start date is still undetermined, seems likely this could be the next thing Reynolds shoots. The logline is being kept under wraps.
Hailing from a first-look partnership between Apple and Skydance Media, Mayday will be produced by Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger, alongside Reynolds, Ashley Fox, Johnny Pariseau and Patrick Gooing for Maximum Effort. In addition to writing and directing, Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley will serve as producers. Carin Sage will oversee the project for Skydance.
The film also reunites Apple with Reynolds who starred in their hit Christmas musical Spirited, which bowed last Thanksgiving. The film also starred Will Ferrell and at the time was the biggest film to premiere on Apple+ in the studios history. He also has strong ties with Skydance who produced his hit Netflix sci-fi adventure The Adam Project.
Reynolds is currently filming Deadpool 3 for Marvel Studios and his Paramount pic Imaginary Friends is set to bow next year.
Branagh will be next be seen in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer opening July 21st. This September he stars in and directs A Haunting In Venice, the latest installment in his Agatha Christie trilogy for Disney, in which he reprises his role of ‘Hercule Poirot’ opposite Tina Fey, Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Dornan. Later this year, he returns to the stage to direct and play King Lear, which will debut at the Wyndham Theater in London before transferring to the Shed in NY in 2024. In 2021, Branagh won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his film Belfast, which also received an additional six nominations including Best Picture and Best Director.
As for Goldstein and Daley, the duo is coming off their critically-acclaimed action-adventure comedy Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves starring Chris Pine. The film premiered at this years SXSW festival and has since become one of best reviewed tentpoles of the year with a 90% grade on Rotten Tomatoes. Their additional writing and directing credits include Game Night, as well as writing Horrible Bosses plus its sequel and Spiderman: Homecoming.
Goldstein and Daley are represented by CAA, Fourth Wall Management, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, Gellman, Meigs & Fox. Reynolds is repped by WME and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern. Branagh is represented by WME, Berwick & Kovacik and Gochman Law Group.
