{"id":541551,"date":"2026-07-09T20:01:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T20:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/541551\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T20:01:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T20:01:13","slug":"free-willy-reboot-in-the-works-at-warner-bros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/541551\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Free Willy’ Reboot in the Works at Warner Bros."},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tWarner Bros. is developing a reimaging of the \u201990s family adventure movie, \u201cFree Willy<\/a>,\u201d produced by Anthony and Joe Russo\u2019s AGBO<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe team has tapped Mary-Margaret Kunze (\u201cMiller\u2019s Girl,\u201d \u201cIcebreaker\u201d) and Jade Halley Bartlett (\u201cMiller\u2019s Girl,\u201d \u201cThe Boroughs\u201d) to write a screenplay for the new movie.<\/p>\n

\n\tReleased in 1993, \u201cFree Willy,\u201d about an orphaned boy who befriends a captive orca, became a global phenomenon, grossing $153.7 million worldwide on a $20 million budget. (Michael Jackson\u2019s theme song \u201cWill You Be There\u201d also became a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and went platinum.) \u201cFree Willy\u201d spawned multiple theatrical sequels, an animated television series, and a direct-to-video continuation. The movie, which starred an orca named Keiko, also dispelled myths about the killer whale and inspired activism around their captivity. <\/p>\n

\n\tAGBO\u2019s Angela Russo-Otstot, Michael Disco and Kassee Whiting will produce the film with executive producers including the Russo brothers and Lauren Shuler Donner, who has been behind the franchise since the original film. Courtney Baker is co-producing. Jesse Ehrman and Cate Adams are overseeing the project on behalf of the studio.<\/p>\n

\n\tKunze and Bartlett are creative partners under the Biscuit Belly Productions banner. In 2024, Bartlett made her directorial debut with Lionsgate\u2019s \u201cMiller\u2019s Girl,\u201d which she wrote and directed with Kunze producing. The script, which Bartlett adapted from her original play, was featured on the Black List in 2016; she made the list in 2017 with \u201cMad,\u201d based on Chloe Espoisto\u2019s novel. Most recently, she created the Netflix series \u201cIcebreaker,\u201d based on the novel by Hannah Grace.<\/p>\n

\n\tKunze most recently served as a non-writing co-executive producer on \u201cThe Boroughs\u201d from the Duffer Brothers and Netflix. Her resume also includes serving as a non-writing executive producer on \u201cA House on the Bayou\u201d and \u201cThe Thing About Pam,\u201d for Blumhouse Television, as well as a term as a creative executive at Marvel Television and co-producer on \u201cAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,\u201d \u201cCloak & Dagger,\u201d \u201cDaredevil\u201d and \u201cThe Runaways.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKunze is repped by CAA and Henry Huang at Heroes & Villains Entertainment, and Bartlett is repped by UTA and Henry Huang at Heroes & Villains Entertainment.<\/p>\n

\n\tTHR first reported news of the developing project. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tJade Halley Bartlett and Mary-Margaret Kunze.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Warner Bros. is developing a reimaging of the \u201990s family adventure movie, \u201cFree Willy,\u201d produced by Anthony and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[53909,93,230088,61,60,270],"class_list":["post-541551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-agbo","tag-entertainment","tag-free-willy","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}