After the premature demise of Being Mortal, Aziz Ansari is back directing with a mysterious project.
Helming your first feature film is rarely easy but things took a particularly difficult turn for Anzi Ansari (pictured here in the TV show Parks & Recreation) during the making of Being Mortal, a comedy movie he was working on for Searchlight Pictures. During production, an accusation was made about Bill Murray’s on-set conduct which ended up shutting production down. The film never got going again and was ultimately scrapped.
As debuts go, that’s a pretty tricky situation to find yourself in. At the time that Being Mortal was pronounced as officially dead, Searchlight made it loud and clear that it intended to work with Ansari again but instead, it’s Lionsgate who has nabbed the comedian and filmmaker for what will be his (second) debut feature.
The project is being kept under wraps but we do know that it’s called Good Fortune and Ansari will star, write and direct. He’ll also be working again with Seth Rogen who will feature onscreen, as will Keanu Reeves. Lionsgate will certainly be happy to stay in the Keanu Reeves business given how much it wants another John Wick film and it seems the studio has also moved quickly to establish a partnership with Ansari.
Apart from that, we know very little else with plot details being kept firmly under wraps. We are looking forward to seeing the comic talents of Rogen, Ansari and Reeves combine together onscreen though. Following a stint of violent John Wick movies, Reeves is now attached to two comedies with news emerging a couple of weeks ago that he’ll also be making a dark comedy with Jonah Hill for Apple.
We’ll bring you more news on Good Fortune as we hear it, but let’s hope the title proves to be auspicious and Ansari can finally get a debut film under his belt.
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