Jonathan Bailey, please approach the bench. Filmmaker John Lee Hancock is bringing the story behind the landmark legal case involving chemical company Monsanto to Netflix, and it will star Bailey (Wicked, Fellow Travelers) and Laura Dern (Jurassic Park, Marriage Story). Here’s the full brief on the project so far, which kicks off production this week.
Also joining the ensemble cast of the upcoming feature are LaKeith Stanfield (I Love Boosters, Knives Out), Julia McDermott (Women of the Movement), David Duchovny (The X-Files, Californication), Melonie Diaz (Fruitvale Station), Bilal Hasna (The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim), and Greg Kinnear (You, You’ve Got Mail).
Based on a true story, the as-yet-untitled movie will follow young, untried attorney Brent Wisner as he takes on a seemingly insurmountable case against the giant US chemical company Monsanto. In the lawsuit, Wisner represents Dewayne “Lee” Johnson, a high school groundskeeper, who used one of Monsanto’s best-known products, the wildly financially successful weed and grass killer Roundup.
The case was the first Roundup cancer lawsuit to proceed to trial, and ended with a landmark verdict determining that Roundup caused Johnson’s non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The jury awarded Johnson $289 million for Monsanto’s failing to warn him and other consumers that exposure to Roundup weed killer can cause cancer.
The victory in Johnson v. Monsanto Co. set a massive precedent, paving the way for thousands of subsequent Roundup lawsuits and billions of dollars in potential jury verdicts against Monsanto’s parent company, Bayer.
With tens of thousands of claims still pending, the US Supreme Court recently heard arguments in April from Monsanto arguing that the company should be shielded from future failure-to-warn claims, backed by the EPA’s stance that Roundup is safe and doesn’t require cancer warnings on the label. A ruling is expected in June.
Known for his work on films such as The Blind Side and Saving Mr. Banks, Hancock is set to direct this upcoming feature, which he wrote alongside Michael Wisner, Alexandra Duparc, and Ned Benson. Hancock also wrote and directed the Stephen King adaptation Mr. Harrigan’s Phone for Netflix in 2022. Moritz Borman, Eric Kopeloff, Philip Schulz-Deyle, Adam McKay, Kevin Messick, and Jon Levin are set to produce.
Be sure to check back here for more discovery on the John Lee Hancock feature soon.
