Midsummer Angels

Midsummer Angels is a 2027 American fantasy action thriller film directed by Tony Gilroy and written by Gilroy, Vivienne Medrano, and Jonathan Kasdan. It is the first installment in the Midsummer Angels franchise. It stars Ryan Reynolds as a man who gets into a demon attack and is saved the angel Michael, only to be caught up in a battle of heaven and hell. The film also stars Harrison Ford, Lucas Black, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicholas Braun, Austin Butler, Olivia Cooke, Mathieu Amalric, Kate Hudson, Zach Cherry, Dominic Cooper, Joaquim de Almeida, and Stephen McKinley Henderson.

The film's earlier drafts were much different than the original one. It was supposed to revolve around a fallen angel, but was scrapped when Gilroy signed on to the film.

Cast

 * Ryan Reynolds as Scott Davis
 * Harrison Ford as Archangel Michael
 * Tom Blyth as Keith Perry
 * Chiwetel Ejiofor as Dan Fenstone
 * Nicholas Braun as Archangel Gabriel
 * Austin Butler as Cory Jade
 * Olivia Cooke as Josie Rooke
 * Mathieu Amalric as Azazel
 * Kate Hudson as Mary Cohen
 * Zach Cherry as Leviathan
 * Dominic Cooper as Luca Pierson
 * Joaquim de Almeida as Guwendo de Dixon
 * Stephen McKinley Henderson as Dr. Tobias Lane

Development
After the cult success of Hazbin Hotel, Vivienne Medrano wanted to focus on a new story with hell not being the highlight. Medrano said: "I wanted to explore a new concept for a while after Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss. I instantly began thinking of Heaven and how it could be expanded upon. And so, Midsummer Angels was born right there."

Medrano took 7 months to develop the story and it's characters. In Medrano's early versions of the script, an angel named Ben would've fallen down to Earth after an accident in Heaven. Now stuck, Ben must find a way to redeem himself while fighting off a satanic cult. After a few more revisions, she took it around to any studio who were looking forward to buy the script. Sony, who had distributed Medrano's Afterlife, had talks with her on the right cast and crew, but after the CEO of Sony stepped down and replaced by someone else, the plans fell through. Allegedly, Medrano had also taken the project to Warner Bros. and Universal, but they rejected it. Eventually, Medrano signed a deal with Paramount Pictures in 2024.

Meanwhile, Tony Gilroy, who had just finished filming the second season of Andor, got a call from Paramount's CEO Brian Robbins about a new script from a popular writer he was meaning to share with him. However, at the time, Gilroy "hadn't heard of Medrano at all before Midsummer Angels, so all he said was... 'Who?'" Gilroy did accept the job as director, on the caveat that he would rewrite the script. He changed the plot from a fallen angel to a war against angels and demons, lead by a fallen angel from hell. While the story changed drastically, it still contained key elements Medrano used in her early scripts.

Cast
Gilroy and Medrano turned to Ryan Reynolds for the lead role, Scott Davis. Reynolds said: "I think the concept is very interesting in most parts. It has the heart of a cheesy 90's action flick, while having the soul of a dark 80's fantasy film. And being someone who grew up on both genres, I was happy to take on the role."

- Ryan Reynolds For the role of Archangel Michael, the producers looked up a number of veteran actors including Michael Douglas, Joe Pesci, Sam Elliot, Kurt Russell, and Robert Duvall, but none of them seemed interested in taking the role, which was eventually given to Harrison Ford. Jason Momoa and Ralph Fiennes were in talks of unknown roles, but nothing resurfaced. Originally, Gabriel was going to be played by Jack Whitehall, who had starred in Jungle Cruise, but due to scheduling conflicts, the role was instead given to Succession's Nicholas Braun. Austin Butler, who plays Cory in the movie, was cast shortly after Dune Pt. 2; he chose to play this role to branch out into more "innovative" films.

When looking for the villain, Azazel, Gilroy chose not to cast a big A-list actor, instead looking for other not as well recognized actors. Olivia Cooke, who played Josie Rooke, recently saw Mathieu Amalric in The French Dispatch, and suggested he audition for the main antagonist. Gilroy agreed, and after a successful audition, Amalric was cast.

Filming
(coming soon)