Ryan Gosling will no longer star in the next film from the Oscar-winning directing duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Variety has confirmed.
Gosling’s departure is attributed to a scheudling conflict.
Universal had originally dated the secret project for June 12, 2027, before moving it to Nov. 19, 2027. Kwan and Scheinert, collectively known as Daniels, aimed to start filming in Los Angeles later this summer, and the production was unable to shift to accomodate Gosling’s schedule, which has been packed as of late following a lengthy global press tour for Amazon MGM’s sci-fi epic “Project Hail Mary.”
However, the three-time Oscar nominee is still set to appear in one major 2027 release: director Shawn Levy’s “Star Wars: Starfighter,” which sends the actor back into space after that uber-successful voyage. Gosling is leading the 2026 box office thanks to “Project Hail Mary” becoming a blockbuster hit. The sci-fi movie, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, earned $80 million domestically and $141 million globally in its March 20 opening weekend; grosses now top $334 million worldwide.
Kwan and Scheinert made their feature directorial debut with 2016’s “Swiss Army Man,” a fantasy comedy starring Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe as a flatulent corpse. Their most recent film, 2022’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” starred Michelle Yeoh and was a critical and commercial success, earning more than $100 million at the box office and winning seven Oscars, including best picture.
Kwan, Scheinert and producer Jonathan Wang will produce the yet-to-be-titled film through their Playgrounds production banner’s overall deal with Universal. Kwan and Wang recently backed “The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist,” from Universal’s specialty studio Focus Features, which was released in theaters last weekend.
Deadline first reported Gosling’s exit. Universal had no comment.