Daniel Craig & Cillian Murphy Prison Movie by Whiplash Director Gets Huge Update

Daniel Craig and Cillian Murphy are attached to star in a prison movie from Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle. The latest update concerns the untitled film’s start date and the project’s cinematographer.

Who is involved in the prison movie with Daniel Craig and Cillian Murphy?

According to World of Reel, Chazelle’s prison drama is eyeing a March 2026 start date in Greece. Academy Award-winning cinematographer Lol Crawley will shoot the movie. Earlier this year, Crawley won the Best Cinematography Oscar for his work on The Brutalist.

Dave Bautista is also in talks to join the cast.

At CinemaCon 2024, Paramount announced that Chazelle will write and direct a prison movie based on his original idea. Chazelle will produce with Olivia Hamilton under their Wild Chickens Productions banner. Plot details are under wraps, but it’s rumored to draw inspiration from gritty ’70s movies.

Chazelle had reportedly been choosing between two projects for his next movie. One was a prison movie and the other was an Evel Knievel biopic. Leonardo DiCaprio was in talks to star as Evel Knievel, with a planned shoot for the summer of 2025. However, DiCaprio passed on Evel Knievel to work with Martin Scorsese on another project.

Oscar winner Adrien Brody was reportedly in talks to join the cast. Ultimately, Chazelle scrapped plans for the Evel Knievel movie and chose to focus on the prison story instead.

Chazelle’s breakout hit was 2014’s Whiplash, a psychological drama about an aspiring jazz drummer pushed to his breaking point by a ruthless teacher. The film won three Oscars, including Best Supporting Actor for J.K. Simmons.

Chazelle’s next movie, 2016’s La La Land, became a smash hit, grossing $472 million worldwide. The musical garnered a record-tying 14 Oscar nominations, winning six, including Best Director.

Chazelle’s two most recent films, 2018’s First Man and 2022’s Babylon, were not box office hits. Babylon severely underperformed critically and financially — a $64 million gross on an $80 million budget. However, Babylon has since been positively re-evaluated by critics and fans.

Source: Comingsoon.net