Update, May 19, 2023: Bad fortune befell the set of Good Fortune, as the production has shut down indefinitely as of May 18, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The WGA strike shut down production in LA’s Koreatown earlier in the week, according to Deadline, when picketers showed up to the location at 11 a.m. on May 16, shutting down a night shoot that was set to begin at 5 p.m. Picketers held the line until 11:30 p.m. and shut down production the next day, May 17, as well. It is not yet clear when production on the project will resume, given the strike, though THR reports that those involved hope it will. Per strike guidelines, Aziz Ansari is not writing new material. It joins the many film and TV productions that have been shut down by WGA picketers, including Severance, Stranger Things, and Loot. Vulture has reached out Ansari and Lionsgate for comment.
Original story follows.
Aziz Ansari is going to give directing a movie another shot. And why shouldn’t he? The comedian’s first attempt at helming his own film set went off without a hitch! In actuality, production on Ansari’s adaptation of Atul Gawande’s book Being Mortal was halted indefinitely in April 2022 after the film’s star, Bill Murray, was accused of inappropriate misconduct by a member of the film’s crew, unable to find another studio.
Ansari’s real directorial debut, Good Fortune, which he stars in alongside Seth Rogen and Keanu Reeves, is a comedy produced by Lionsgate, according to Variety. Principal photography is set to begin in Los Angeles in May with a top secret logline. “We have indeed found good fortune with this film,” Joe Drake, Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group chair, said in a statement. “We love the script and believe strongly in Aziz as both a performer and a director. And when you add in Seth and Keanu — two incredible world-class talents — toplining alongside Aziz, this has the potential to be a very special film for us.”
For all the mystery surrounding it, it is possible the synopsis of this upcoming film isn’t actually a secret. Perhaps Aziz texted it out to the world using his beloved flip phone, but the old technology failed and the message didn’t go through.
