Having spent the last decade making documentaries on JFK, Putin, the climate crisis, and more, three-time Oscar-winning Platoon and Born On The Fourth Of July director Oliver Stone has finally returned to narrative feature filmmaking at the ripe old age of 79. Per Deadline‘s reporting, Stone’s long-gestating, generations-spanning family drama White__Lies, something of a radical departure from the filmmaker’s most famous works, has officially entered production with Josh Hartnett (Oppenheimer, Trap) leading the line in the starring role.
Once floated as a potential Benicio Del Toro starrer back in 2018, White Lies — written and directed by Stone — has taken a long time to get off the ground, with Stone himself having previously commented that part of the struggle is a result of being ‘blacklisted’ from Hollywood following some of his more controversial political views and documentarian pursuits. The actual movie itself however sounds like a far more personal and introspective work from Stone, whose usual purview is far grander and, yes, politically driven fare. Described to Deadline as a story about “family, loss and pain, and how love can change shape in the course of our lifetimes,” White Lies “follows Jack Freeman (Hartnett), a child of divorce now repeating his parents’ mistakes in his own marriage and with his own children. Feeling trapped, he embarks on a lust-filled journey to free himself — only to find himself more lost than before. When he meets a woman whose life is the opposite of his own, he begins an unexpected journey of rediscovery.”
With principal photography underway and shooting set to take place internationally across Rome, Bangkok, and Sofia, there is a sense that Stone, despite his half-century plus of directorial experience, is heading into uncharted territory here. Speaking to Deadline, the director said as much himself. “After nearly 10 years away from features, I feel really like I’m starting again, as when I made Platoon and Salvador in 1986,” Stone told the trade. “White Lies will find its natural home, because it’s an eternal story of love.” Added star Hartnett: “Oliver explores a universe in White Lies that feels personal and entirely new material from a filmmaker I have long admired and am excited to work with.”
Stone’s last narrative movie, Snowden, released in 2016 to mostly positive reviews. In our own critique of the film, Jimi Famuwera praised the way “Stone skilfully demystifies one of the Obama era’s most compelling stories”, remarking of the film that it represented “a welcome return to form for a cinematic sleeping giant.” With Hartnett starring, a story straight from the heart to tell, and cameras now rolling, it would certainly seem that the cinematic sleeping giant is ready to awaken once again.