Clint Eastwood, to put it bluntly, is a living legend. Even as his 93rd birthday draws near, the 4-time Academy Award winner is still making movies and likely plans to continue to do so until he physically can’t anymore. Who’s to stop him, he’s directed two Best Picture winners in Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby, has directed 41 films, worked with multiple generations of Hollywood’s top talent, and is arguably the most iconic movie cowboy to ever grace the silver screen. Now, Eastwood is looking to make his way back to the big screen with Juror No. 2 which is rumored to be the final film of his legendary career.
Does ‘Juror No. 2’ Have a Release Date?
There is currently no set date as to when Juror No. 2 will be hitting the big screen. The film was announced back in April 2023, with filming having been disrupted by the SAG-AFTRA Strikes. However, there is a good chance that Juror No. 2 will be released within the first half of 2024. Partly because of Eastwood’s famous (or infamous depending on who you ask) directing style of usually only shooting one take for his scenes. Eastwood is also known to be quick in the editing room as well. Take for example Richard Jewell, after numerous starts and stops, Warner Bros officially greenlit the film in May 2019, Eastwood quickly lined up a cast and began filming in June, and the film was released in theaters the following December. This wasn’t the first time that Eastwood churned out a movie that quickly either as The Mule, American Sniper, Million Dollar Baby, and Gran Torino all had speedy productions.
Where Can You Watch ‘Juror No. 2’?
In 2021 Warner Bros notoriously released their entire film slate day-and-date in theaters and on their streaming service HBO Max, including Eastwood’s last film Cry Macho. That likely won’t be the case with Juror No. 2 as Warner Bros Discovery’s CEO David Zaslav made it quite clear that they want all their films in theaters first, moving films like Blue Beetle and Evil Dead Rise, which were initially meant to be streaming-only releases, to theaters first.
Is There a Trailer for ‘Juror No. 2’?
Considering that filming is still ongoing, you shouldn’t be too surprised to learn that there isn’t a trailer for Juror No. 2 yet.
What Is the Plot of ‘Juror No. 2’?
As you might have expected from the title, Juror No. 2 will be a courtroom drama. The film is set during a murder trial where juror and family man Justin Kemp starts to come to the realization that he was the one who killed the victim in a case of reckless driving. Now he’s put into the position where he is trying to save the defendant on trial without incriminating himself by doing anything that would reveal he is the one at fault.
Who Stars in ‘Juror No. 2’?
Nicholas Hoult will be playing Justin Kemp, the lead role in Juror No. 2, which marks his first time working with the seasoned filmmaker. Hoult has been working in the industry ever since he was a child and broke out in a big way when he starred opposite Hugh Grant in the 2002 dramedy About a Boy. Hoult starred as the mutant Hank McCoy (aka Beast) in X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix, was a major scene-stealer as Nux, a henchman looking for redemption in George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road, played the role of the snarky statesman Robert Harley in Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite, and took on the role of the obnoxious foodie Tyler in the 2022 satirical horror hit The Menu. He also stars as Peter III of Russia opposite Elle Fanning in the Hulu series The Great, a role that earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2022. Most recently he played the titular role in Universal’s horror-comedy Renfield which also starred Nicolas Cage as Count Dracula. He recently wrapped filming for Robert Egger’s highly anticipated Nosferatu remake where he plays the role of Thomas Hutter.
Toni Collette will be reuniting with her About a Boy co-star in Juror No. 2, which also marks her first time collaborating with Eastwood. She’ll be playing the district attorney in the film. Collette first broke out for playing the lead role in the musical comedy Muriel’s Wedding. In 2000, she received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Lynn Sear in The Sixth Sense. Since then Collette has starred in numerous acclaimed films such as Hereditary, Little Miss Sunshine, The Hours, Knives Out, Nightmare Alley, and I’m Thinking of Ending Things. She also has had a remarkable career on TV; she won her first Emmy Award in 2009 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her work in The United States of Tara and was nominated again for the same role the following year. She also has three other Emmy nominations two for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her work in Tsunami: The Aftermath and Unbelievable and another for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for The Staircase. Collette has been keeping busy and most recently headlined the crime-comedy Mafia Mamma and plays one of the lead roles on the Prime Video series The Power. Along with Juror No. 2, she will star in Bong Joon Ho’s next film Mickey 17.
Gabriel Basso, who most recently broke out in a big way with his starring role on the smash-hit Netflix series The Night Agent, will be playing the man on trial.
Other key cast members joining Juror No. 2 include Zoey Deutch (Set It Up) as Justin Kemp’s wife, Kiefer Sutherland (24) as Kemp’s AA sponsor, and Chris Messina (Air) as the public defender, Leslie Bibb (Iron Man) and Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) will play fellow jurors. Much like with Hoult and Collette, this will mark Eastwood’s first time working with all five of these actors. Though Eastwood did star alongside Sutherland’s father, Donald Sutherland, in the 1970 film Kelly’s Heroes.
Who Is Making ‘Juror No. 2’?
As previously stated, Juror No. 2 will be directed by Clint Eastwood in what is rumored to be his final film.
Eastwood needs no introduction, he initially got his start as an actor and became a cultural icon for his role as The Man with No Name in Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy. His other iconic role is that of San Francisco cop Harry Callahan in the Dirty Harry film series. Eastwood made his directorial debut in 1971 with the psychological thriller Play Misty for Me, which he also starred in alongside Jessica Walter and Donna Mills. He has won a grand total of four Academy Awards, including for Best Picture and Director for Unforgiven, and won those same two awards 12 years later for Million Dollar Baby. He has received an additional seven nominations including Best Actor for Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby, Best Picture for Mystic River, Letters from Iwo Jima, and American Sniper, and Best Director for Letters from Iwo Jima.
After Cry Macho was a critical and financial disappointment for Warner Bros, it looked like the company’s new CEO David Zaslav wasn’t keen on working with Eastwood on another film claiming that “We don’t owe anyone any favors,” after being told by multiple executives that he never has turned in a film late or over-budget. Thankfully it seems that he’s had a change of heart since then.
The screenplay for the film is written by first-time screenwriter Jonathan Abrams. Adam Goodman (Dune), Matt Skiena (The Lego Movie), Tim Moore (Sully), and Jessica Meier (Richard Jewell) will serve as producers on the film. Ellen Goldsmith-Vein (The Maze Runner) and Jeremy Bell (Escape Plan) are executive producing the film.
When and Where Is ‘Juror No. 2’ Filming?
Filming for Juror No. 2 began in Savannah, Georgia in June 2023, with additional photography taking place in Los Angeles. However, filming was suspended in July 2023, due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes. Filming resumed in November 2023, after the strike had ended.