Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson says work on the upcoming Amazon thriller series “Just Cause” is progressing, with the script currently in development. The project was initially announced by Amazon in 2022 but experienced delays due to the writer’s strike. Johansson, 39, shared with Deadline during the premiere of her upcoming film “Fly Me To The Moon” that “It’s coming along… It’s being written.” She explained that development paused during the strike, putting everyone in a holding pattern, but writing has now resumed. The original “Just Cause,” a thriller mystery, featured Johansson as the young daughter of protagonist Paul Armstrong, played by Sean Connery, and was released in 1995.
It was based on John Katzenbach’s 1992 novel. Johansson is now starring in and executive producing the new show. The main protagonist’s gender has been changed; Johansson will play Madison ‘Madi’ Cowart, a struggling reporter from a Florida newspaper sent to cover an inmate on death row. In the original film, directed by Arne Glimcher and starring Laurence Fishburne, Ed Harris, Blair Underwood, and Kate Capshaw, the title character was a professor called by his former student, an African American convicted of the rape and murder of a young white woman, to save him from execution.
“Just Cause” was Johansson’s second film, following her debut in “North” in 1994 as a child artist. Filmmaker Cord Jefferson and writer John Wells are co-writing the first episode of the new version of “Just Cause” and will also serve as executive producers. The series is produced under John Wells Productions. Meanwhile, Johansson’s film “Fly Me To The Moon” is set to release on July 12. Directed by Greg Berlanti and distributed by Columbia Pictures, the romantic comedy features Johansson as Kelly Jones, alongside Channing Tatum and Woody Harrelson. The project is described by the makers as a “sharp, stylish comedy-drama set against the high-stakes backdrop of NASA’s historic Apollo 11 moon landing.”
