EXCLUSIVE: Pulitzer winner David Mamet is set to direct Anthony Mackie (Captain America: Brave New World), Ben Mendelsohn (Dark Knight Rises), Emily Alyn Lind (We Were Liars) and Oscar nominee Sharon Stone (Casino) in the feature version of his Tony-winning play Speed the Plow.

Mamet has been trying to make the movie version of his Hollywood satire for the best part of a decade and now gets to do so with a strong cast and a production start date of February 18, 2026, in Atlanta.

Mamet’s 1988 play starred Joe Mantegna, Ron Silver in a Tony-winning performance, and Madonna.

The new film, which will diverge to an extent from the play, will be set at the fictional American Prestige Studios, where junior executive Bob Grant (Mackie) is appointed to a head of production role. Grant is emotionally and philosophically unsuited to a job overseeing the production of schlock, but is aided, or impeded, by a studio time server, Charlie Fox (Mendelsohn); an office temp, Karen (Lind); and crazed movie star Gemma Speed (Stone).

Cast also includes Rebecca Pidgeon as PR flack Georgia Cornchuk-Stein, and Chris Bauer as a Malibu recluse.

The Solution will launch international sales at the upcoming EFM in Berlin. Mamet will direct from his own script. Pic is being produced by Filmopoly’s Vince Jolivette (The Disaster Artist) and Richie Hill (Hunting Season); Steak & Rosé’s Tyler Payne and Douglas Riggs (Perfect); Jiarui Guo and Anthony Short.

Alan B. Bursteen (Oscar Shaw) of Milestone Studios negotiated the international sales agreement with The Solution Entertainment Group partners, Myles Nestel and Lisa Wilson. Executive producers are Alan B. Bursteen, Dawn Bursteen, Steve and Jack Greenberg of Pangea Studios, Emily Hunter Salveson, and Angie Sanfilippo.

Mamet is also well known for hit play Glengarry Glen Ross, which he memorably scripted for the big screen. Screenplays also include The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Untouchables and Wag The Dog. Movies as director have included The Spanish Prisoner and Heist.

Mackie will next be seen in Apple’s 12 12 12 and Avengers: Doomsday. Mendelsohn will next be seen in the Cary Fukunaga film Blood On Snow alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and Aaron Taylor Johnson. Lind will be directing her own piece later this year backed by Killer Films and Wagner Entertainment. Stone will next be seen as one of the new cast members in the third season of HBO hit Euphoria.

Mackie is represented by UTA and Inspire Entertainment. Stone is represented by Kris Heller and Jim Osborne at Independent Artist Group and Brecheen Feldman Breimer Silver Thompson. Mendelsohn is represented by Boomer Malkin and Michael DeVeau at WME. Lind is represented by CAA, Brillstein, and attorney Dave Feldman. Mamet is represented by Stan Coleman at Weintraub Tobin.