Clint Eastwood isn’t looking to retire anytime soon, according to “Juror #2” actor Gabriel Basso.
The star told The Hollywood Reporter that famed actor/director/producer Eastwood is not slowing down even after his 40th directorial effort, which will get a limited theatrical release on November 1.
“I feel like just because people say that he’s going to say, ‘Screw you guys, I’m making another one;’ even if it’s five minutes long,” Basso said when asked if “Juror #2” will be Eastwood’s final film. “I feel like he’ll find a way just to stick it to everybody.”
Basso’s “Juror #2” co-stars Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette similarly stayed mum about the status of Eastwood’s projects.
Hoult said that he “didn’t want to speculate” on Eastwood’s future and was ‘just glad that whilst I was working I got to make one with him,’” according to THR, while Collette teased that Eastwood was trying to find more scripts to direct in 2023.
“I do know in the [writers and actors] strike, I was like, ‘What have you been doing?’ He’s like, ‘I’m looking for material and can’t find anything,’” Collette said. “So he’s endlessly creative, he’s a true artist. […] He will do it as long as he wants.”
“Juror #2” follows Hoult’s character Justin Kemp who, while serving as a juror in a high profile murder trial, finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma…one he could use to sway the jury verdict and potentially convict — or free — the accused killer, per the official synopsis. The film is written by “Escape Plan” screenwriter Jonathan Abrams, with Eastwood directing and producing.
This is Eastwood’s first film since 2021’s “Cry Macho.” The auteur reunites with Warner Bros., which debuted “Cry Macho” on HBO Max along with a day-and-date theatrical run. The film grossed approximately $15.5 million worldwide upon release, despite having a budget of $33 million.
The IndieWire review for “Juror #2” deemed the film a return to form for Eastwood.
“Not only does the film rise to the occasion, it soars past it,” the review reads. “A throwback character study that invokes the kind of mid-budget hits that kept the lights on at Warner Bros. for 50 years, ‘Juror #2’ both enriches our understanding of the Hollywood icon who made it and stands on its own as one of the best studio films released in 2024.”
Eastwood made his directorial debut in 1971 with “Play Misty for Me.” He won Best Director at the Oscars twice, for “Unforgiven” and “Million Dollar Baby.” His other film credits as a director include “American Sniper,” “Mystic River,” and “The Bridges of Madison County.”
