Warner Bros. is developing a reimagining of the beloved 1993 family adventure Free Willy, with Anthony and Joe Russo’s AGBO producing. Mary-Margaret Kunze and Jade Halley Bartlett have been tapped to write the screenplay.
The original Free Willy, about an orphaned boy who befriends a captive orca, became a global phenomenon upon its release, grossing $153.7 million worldwide on a $20 million budget. Michael Jackson’s theme song “Will You Be There” became a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and went platinum. The film spawned multiple theatrical sequels, an animated television series and a direct-to-video continuation, while also inspiring real-world activism around the captivity of killer whales.
Kunze and Bartlett are creative partners under the Biscuit Belly Productions banner. Bartlett made her directorial debut with Lionsgate’s Miller’s Girl in 2024, which she wrote and directed with Kunze producing. Bartlett most recently created the Netflix series Icebreaker, based on the novel by Hannah Grace, while Kunze most recently served as a non-writing co-executive producer on The Boroughs from the Duffer Brothers and Netflix.
AGBO’s Angela Russo-Otstot, Michael Disco and Kassee Whiting will produce alongside executive producers Anthony and Joe Russo and Lauren Shuler Donner, who has been behind the franchise since the original film. Courtney Baker is co-producing. Jesse Ehrman and Cate Adams are overseeing the project on behalf of Warner Bros.