Free Willy is swimming its way to the big screen for a new generation.
Warner Bros. and the Russo brothers’ AGBO are partnering on a reimagining of the 1993 adventure movie, tapping Mary-Margaret Kunze and Jade Halley Bartlett for the screenplay.
The original Free Willy follows a troubled preteen who finds his purpose to free an aging orca that was captured from the wild and put into a local aquarium as a tourist attraction. The beloved ’90s movie became a franchise that spanned numerous theatrical and home video releases.
ABGO’s Angela Russo-Otstot, Michael Disco, and Kassee Whiting will produce, with Anthony and Joe Russo executive producing. Outside of Free Willy, the AGBO slate includes a John Rambo movie starring Noah Centineo for Lionsgate, the Robert De Niro crime thriller The Whisper Man, Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday and the third Extraction film.
Lauren Shuler Donner and Courtney Baker will co-produce the new Free Willy. Jesse Ehrman and Cate Adams will be overseeing for Warners.
Kunze, repped CAA and Heroes & Villains Entertainment, started her career as a creative executive at Marvel Television, working on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Daredevil, among other shows. Most recently, she served as a co-executive producer on the Netflix series The Boroughs.
Bartlett, repped by UTA, Heroes & Villains Entertainment and Hirsch Wallerstein, made her feature debut on the Lionsgate movie Miller’s Girl, which was based on her 2016 Black List script and was produced by Kunze. She created the upcoming Netflix series Icebreaker, based on the young adult romance novel of the same name by Hannah Grace.
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