Jason Bateman has exited from the director’s chair on Artemis, the big feature film package starring Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans that Deadline told you in March that Apple swooped in to acquire in a $100 million-plus deal.
Johansson is producing with Jonathan Lia and Keenan Flynn through their These Pictures production company, which commissioned and developed the script.
We’re hearing from sources that Bateman and These Pictures amicably and mutually have chosen to part ways on the pic due to creative differences. I’m told that both sides respect the other’s work and will continue to hunt for the right project to collaborate on down the road.
Plot details for Artemis are being kept tightly under wraps, but the project is set against the space race. The screenplay hails from Rose Gilroy, daughter of writer-director Dan Gilroy and actress René Russo.
Bateman just wrapped the fourth and final season of his Netflix series Ozark.
