The Daniels Take Their Time — And That Matters
I love the way that the Daniels take their time about things, which for me is quite reassuring. After Everything Everywhere All at Once spun the industry into a full existential spiral and then walked away with a small mountain of Oscars. Now, they could have rushed back in with anything loud, chaotic, and instantly green lit, but they chose to take a breather. They let the noise settle. And now, here we are. With their next move of pulling Ryan Gosling into their orbit. In the last three years, we’ve seen Ryan Gosling do existential comedy (Barbie), action comedy (The Fall Guy), and sci-fi comedy (Project Hail Mary) all at blockbuster event level.
Ryan Gosling Feels Like More Than Just Casting
Ryan Gosling teaming up with the Daniels lands almost like a signal. Not much is being said about the film itself yet, which, honestly, feels very on-brand. As we already know, the Daniels don’t really do neat little log-lines. They deal in feelings, chaos, and the kind of ideas that sound slightly unhinged until they hit you right in the chest.
A Sci-Fi Comedy With Existential Weight
What we do know is just enough to raise an eyebrow. In a recent Collider interview with Daniel Kwan, the filmmaker teased that fans can expect a movie that’s “fun sci-fi, action comedy with a big heart and obviously very existential.” In other words, a Daniels movie.The project is being described as the kind of film that will probably make you laugh and then sit in your car afterwards questioning your entire life. So yes, everything Daniels.
This is what Kwan had had to say:
“We’re about to shoot this summer, and it is coming out, if all things go to plan, next November of 2027. The only thing you need to know is we are trying to do what we have always done, which is listen very deeply to what is happening in the world and try to internalise that and make something really fun and entertaining that kind of reflects that story back to the world. So, one of the reasons why it’s taking so long is because what we’re feeling and what we’re hearing from the world is very complex and really nuanced, and there’s so much paradox. To kind of reconcile all those things and put them into one movie, it takes time. Some trees grow really quickly within a couple of years, some trees take a very long time, and sometimes the work that we do takes a little bit longer.
Again, it’s going to be fun sci-fi, action comedy with a big heart. Very existential. All those things that you would hope that one of our movies would be. But as the world gets more complex, I believe one of my jobs as a storyteller is to meet the world where it’s at.”
Why This Role Fits Gosling Right Now
And Gosling? He’s an interesting piece of this puzzle. You see he has deep range. Rage which we have seen over the years. And this can only be described as a controlled energy to him. He doesn’t overplay things. He lets moments breathe. Sometimes he barely says anything at all and still carries the weight of a scene. If you take that kind of restraint and drop it into the Daniels’ brand of beautifully chaotic storytelling. It feels like it could either completely unravel… or land perfectly.
Right now, Gosling is riding a strong wave. Project Hail Mary has already pulled in serious numbers and reminded everyone that he can carry a big, emotionally driven sci-fi story without losing the human core. Which, if you think about it, makes him a pretty natural fit for whatever this next film becomes. But, the most interesting part of all this is what we don’t know. No title, plot details, or for that matter, no cast details beyond Gosling. Just a date sitting quietly in the distance, November 19, 2027.
What We Don’t Know Might Be The Point
I get the feeling that, that silence feels intentional. And I say this because if Everything Everywhere All at Once taught us anything, it’s that the Daniels aren’t interested in giving us what we expect. They’re interested in pulling the audience somewhere stranger… and then making it feel deeply, uncomfortably human.
So this isn’t just another casting announcement. It’s the first ripple of something that’s probably going to get weird. And if history is anything to go by, that’s exactly the point.
