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Good Fortune (film)
Upcoming American comedy film From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Good Fortune is an upcoming American comedy film written and directed by Aziz Ansari in his feature directorial debut. Seth Rogen, Ansari, Keke Palmer, Sandra Oh, and Keanu Reeves star in the project. It is produced by Garam Films, Oh Brudder Productions, Keep Your Head, and Yang Pictures. It follows an angel named Gabriel (Reeves), whose failed attempt to show Arj (Ansari), a struggling man, that money doesn't solve one's problems—by body swapping him with his wealthy employer Jeff (Rogen)—results in Gabriel losing his wings, while the work he did as an angel begins to unravel around them.
After the suspension of his original directorial debut Being Mortal at Searchlight Pictures in 2022, Ansari moved forward with plans to direct Good Fortune. He desired to make a comedy film with the intent for it to be theatrically released, citing the success of Barbie (2023) as proof of the viability of such a project. Ansari's longtime friend Rogen, who inspired the implementation of several elements into the film, joined shortly after Being Mortal was shelved.
The film was set to begin principal photography in May 2023, but due to a production shutdown in the middle of the month due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, filming started in late January 2024 in Los Angeles, when Palmer announced she had joined the cast. The majority of filming wrapped before April 2024, with some scenes picked up at a later date after an injury Reeves sustained two weeks into filming had healed.
Good Fortune is slated to premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2025, and is scheduled to be released in the United States on October 17, 2025.
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Premise
Gabriel (Keanu Reeves) is a "budget guardian angel".[2] One day, he notices Arj, a man down on his luck (Aziz Ansari), who does odd jobs for a wealthy socialite named Jeff (Seth Rogen). Once Arj falls asleep in a booth at a Denny's restaurant, he hits rock-bottom after subsequently having his car towed from their parking lot. Intervening in his plight, Gabriel tries to convince Arj that being wealthy like Jeff would not solve his problems by swapping the two men's lives. Failing at this demonstration as Arj's problems are solved by Jeff's wealth, Gabriel loses his wings and is sent down to Earth to live among humans, while Arj takes over Jeff's body and livelihood.[3] Gabriel then becomes roommates with the displaced Jeff,[2] as the work he did as an angel begins to unravel around them.[3]
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Cast
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- Seth Rogen as Jeff, a wealthy man who lives a life of luxury and excess. He owns several cars, a modern mansion with a pool and a disco club in the basement, and hosts wild parties.[3] Following the angel Gabriel's intervention with Jeff's unlucky employee Arj, he and the man have their lives swapped.[3]
- Aziz Ansari as Arj,[4] a struggling man. He ends up doing various odd jobs for his wealthy socialite employer Jeff, such as fixing his pool and finding him a shaman for an ayahuasca journey.[3] After hitting rock bottom, he meets Gabriel in a Denny's parking lot, who tries to show him that money does not solve one's problems.[3]
- Keke Palmer as Elena, who works at a hardware store with Arj. She fights for better working conditions and to unionize.[5]
- Sandra Oh as Martha,[6] an angel who takes Gabriel's wings.[3][7]
- Keanu Reeves as Gabriel, an angel. He tries to regain his wings after a plan to show a struggling man that wealth can not solve one's problems goes haywire, resulting in the man taking over his affluent employer's life.[3] Normally, Gabriel is responsible for saving people from choking or stopping them from texting while driving, but tries to show the man that the life of wealth is "not all that it's cracked up to be".[3]
Sherry Cola plays someone who wants to sit on the face of Gabriel, finding him attractive.[8] A shaman called Nana appears holding a ceremony involving ayahuasca.[9] Stephen McKinley Henderson has a supporting role.[10]
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Production
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Development
After the suspension of his first directorial project Being Mortal at Searchlight Pictures in 2022 due to star Bill Murray's alleged inappropriate behavior, Aziz Ansari moved forward with his next planned production, Good Fortune.[11][7][2] Ansari had been doing dramatic work, and wished to make a comedy to be theatrically released. Ansari believed in the viability of such a film, and cited the success of Barbie (2023) as an example.[3] He hoped that having an R-rated comedy in theaters would prove both the genre and format viable, and lead to "shitty rip-offs".[12]
Following negotiations with Dan Freedman, Phil Strina, John Biondo, and Matt Leonetti, the project was acquired by Lionsgate Films.[11] Aniz Adam Ansari, Jonathan McCoy, Christopher Woodrow, and Connor DiGregorio are executive producers,[13] while Brady Fujikawa and Jon Humphrey oversaw the production for Lionsgate.[7] It was officially announced in April 2023 to be produced by Anthony Katagas, Alan Yang, and Ansari, with Ansari also acting as writer, director and co-star.[11] Garam Films, Oh Brudder Productions, Keep Your Head, and Yang Pictures serve as production companies, with Lionsgate presenting the film in association with Media Capital Technologies.[14]
Writing
Ansari expressed a desire to "write about things that everyone is dealing with that no one is talking about", and felt that struggling in life was a perfect example of this.[3] Beyond it serving as the physical setting, Ansari considered the city of Los Angeles a its own character in Good Fortune, for its gig economy, and propagation of food delivery robots, gentrification, the housing crisis, and homelessness, themes reflected in the film.[5] Ansari conducted research for the film, including interviewing gig workers to inform him what their way of life is like,[3] and job shadowed food delivery drivers and worked in hardware stores.[9] Ansari took inspiration from films It's a Wonderful Life and A Matter of Life and Death (both 1946).[5]
Casting
In April 2023, Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogen were revealed to be starring, with filming set to begin in May.[15] Ansari and Rogen had been longtime friends and were looking to partner for a film.[3] Following the shelving of Being Mortal, Ansari decided to be proactive in finding something else to do, calling Rogen with "a decent draft" of Good Fortune; two hours later, Rogen joined.[12] Rogen inspired the implementation of several ideas in the script, such as a sauna and a cold plunge.[3] Though doubtful that Reeves could take on the role of Gabriel when first considered due to Ansari believing "that guy just seems like he's on a different planet", the director was convinced upon meeting him. Ansari also associated Reeves with two formative films for himself, Speed and The Matrix, which he said made him star-struck. To assuage this, Ansari invited Reeves over to his house for Indian food and conversation, then eating out for dinner and spending quality time.[12] On April 5, 2024, it was reported that Sandra Oh had joined the cast.[7]
Filming
Principal photography was expected to start on May 16, 2023, in Los Angeles,[16][17] but was delayed indefinitely due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike.[18][19] In November 2023, Deadline Hollywood reported the production was aiming to restart in early 2024.[20] On January 25, 2024, Keke Palmer revealed in an Instagram post that filming with Ansari, Rogen, and Reeves had begun.[21][22] Other sources further confirmed her casting.[23][24] Filming with Reeves hooked into a rig atop a roof with a stunt double in Los Angeles occurred in February.[25] Griffith Park Observatory also features in the film.[5]
Two weeks into shooting,[26] photos of Reeves on set with crutches and an ice pack on his left knee circulated online.[27][22] At the time, it was unclear if the medical aids were worn for his role or for the treatment of an actual injury.[22] The viral images prompted some websites to report uncertainty surrounding the actor's health.[28][29] Days later, Reeves was seen standing on set without assistance.[30] In an interview during his panel for the film at the 2024 CinemaCon in April, Ansari addressed the media attention, noting that the hashtag #GetWellSoonKeanu had trended in response to the photos.[3] He clarified that Reeves had fractured his knee during filming, noting the actor had tripped on a rug while inside his trailer. He said that Reeves continued to shoot the majority of the rest of the film despite his injury.[3] Reeves later clarified on an episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that he fell while he was shuffling quickly out of a cold plunge, and that he "spiked" his knee on the ground after catching his foot, cracking his patella "like a potato chip".[31]
The majority of filming wrapped by the time that Reeves's subsequent project, Outcome began principal photography on March 20,[32] with Ansari noting that only scenes for a salsa dancing sequence with Reeves were left to shoot. Reeves had wanted to shoot the scenes anyway, but Ansari and the rest of the production insisted on a delay until the actor's knee healed.[26]
Music
Carter Burwell was hired to compose the score by August 2024.[33]
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Marketing
Aziz Ansari attended the 2024 CinemaCon to promote the film for Lionsgate Films, revealing his creative processes and plot details for the project, and showed attendees a closed-doors look at a trailer for the film.[3] /Film's Ryan Scott likened the body-swapping element showcased to "Trading Places (1983) by way of Scrooged (1988)".[2] Writing for Deadline Hollywood, Anthony D'Alessandro and Nancy Tartaglione observed, "It looks hysterical and received a ton of laughs".[34] With the release of the first trailer in late May 2025, Empire and Gizmodo drew parallels to the premise of Reeves playing an angel with his amiable public image,[35][36] and The A.V. Club wrote that a film titled "Good Fortune" was ironic due to the Murray scandal and strikes befalling Ansari's eventual directorial debut.[8]
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Release
Good Fortune is scheduled to be released theatrically by Lionsgate Films in the United States on October 17, 2025.[18][13] It will premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2025.[37]
References
External links
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