‘Free Willy’ Reimagining Set at Warner Bros., Russo Bros’ AGBO (Exclusive)
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Warner Bros. and AGBO, the production company run by Anthony and Joe Russo, are teaming up on a reimagining of the 1993 family adventure film Free Willy. Screenwriters Mary-Margaret Kunze and Jade Halley Bartlett have been hired to write the script, bringing the story of a troubled boy who bonds with a captive orca to a new generation. The move revives one of the 1990s' most recognisable family franchises, which spanned several theatrical and home-video releases.
AGBO's Angela Russo-Otstot, Michael Disco and Kassee Whiting will produce, with the Russo brothers executive producing, while Lauren Shuler Donner and Courtney Baker co-produce; Jesse Ehrman and Cate Adams are overseeing for Warner Bros. Kunze began her career as a creative executive at Marvel Television on shows including Agents of SHIELD and Daredevil, and recently co-executive produced Netflix's The Boroughs, while Bartlett made her feature debut writing Lionsgate's Miller's Girl and created the forthcoming Netflix series Icebreaker. The project joins a busy AGBO slate that includes a Noah Centineo-led John Rambo film, the Robert De Niro thriller The Whisper Man, Marvel's Avengers: Doomsday and a third Extraction instalment.
- Warner Bros. and the Russos' AGBO are rebooting Free Willy.
- Mary-Margaret Kunze and Jade Halley Bartlett will write the script.
- It joins AGBO's slate alongside Rambo and Avengers: Doomsday.
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Warner Bros. and AGBO, the production company founded by directors Anthony and Joe Russo (known for Marvel's Avengers films and Netflix's Extraction), are developing a new take on Free Willy, the 1993 hit about a boy who befriends a captive orca. The original spawned several sequels and became one of the defining family films of the 1990s, so a reimagining marks the revival of a well-known franchise for a new audience.
Writers Mary-Margaret Kunze and Jade Halley Bartlett have been brought on to script the project. Kunze has a background at Marvel Television and has worked on Netflix's The Boroughs, while Bartlett wrote Lionsgate's Miller's Girl and created the upcoming Netflix series Icebreaker; neither is a household name, but both have established credits in film and television writing.
The project sits within a much larger slate of films AGBO currently has in development, including a new John Rambo film, a De Niro-led thriller, Avengers: Doomsday and a third Extraction film, showing the scale of the Russo brothers' production ambitions beyond directing.
More coverage
- Variety — u2018Free Willyu2019 Reboot in the Works at Warner Bros.
- Deadline — Warner Bros. & AGBOu2019s u2018Free Willyu2019 Reimagining Taps Mary-Margaret Kunze & Jade Halley Bartlett To Pen Screenplay