Sam Esmail is reuniting with Julia Roberts, and this time he is bringing Elizabeth Olsen along for the ride. The Mr. Robot creator has assembled what is shaping up to be one of the most compelling casts of the year for his new Warner Bros. thriller.
Elizabeth Olsen joins Julia Roberts in Panic Carefully, a paranoid thriller Esmail wrote and will direct himself
Warner Bros. landed the project in a bidding war earlier this year, winning out in part because of its commitment to a full theatrical release.
The film, titled Panic Carefully, is described as a paranoid thriller in the vein of Mr. Robot and The Silence of the Lambs, and involves the hunt for a cyber-t——–.
Plot specifics beyond that are being kept tightly under wraps.
The announcement reunites Esmail with Roberts following Leave the World Behind, the apocalyptic Netflix thriller that became the streamer’s fifth most popular English-language film of all time with over 143 million views.
The decision to take this one to cinemas rather than streaming feels deliberate, and given what the pair managed together last time, the appetite for a full theatrical experience will be considerable.
For Olsen, the project adds another serious dramatic collaboration to what is already a packed slate.
She recently received acclaim for her performance in His Three Daughters alongside Carrie Coon and Natasha Lyonne, and has A24’s Eternity, a romantic comedy opposite Miles Teller and Callum Turner, also on the way.
This will mark the first time both Olsen and Roberts have worked together, and the first time either has worked with Esmail individually in this particular combination.
The full cast has since expanded to include Eddie Redmayne, Brian Tyree Henry, Joe Alwyn, Aidan Gillen, and Ben Chaplin. Esmail produces with Chad Hamilton for Esmail Corp., alongside Roberts, Scott Stuber, Marisa Yeres Gill, and Lisa Gillan.
Warner Bros. has set a February 26, 2027, release date for the film in theaters and IMAX.
After wrapping Panic Carefully, Esmail is also set to direct Tesseract, a mystery sci-fi feature with Glen Powell attached to star.
