After some time in pre-production, along with a change in director and star over the course of its life, filming has finally begun on Joe Carnahan's action-thriller Shadow Force. The Smokin' Aces and Copshop director announced that shooting was underway on Instagram with a photo of a clapboard complete with the caption "Time to Get. It. ON!" Under the Lionsgate banner, the film stars Omar Sy and Kerry Washington as "an estranged couple with a bounty on their heads who must go on the run with their son to avoid their former employer, a shadow ops unit that has been sent to kill them.”
Shadow Force faced a winding road to get to the point of filming. Originally announced back in 2020, the film was at one point set to be directed by Victoria Mahoney, who previously worked on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and featured Sterling K. Brown opposite Washington. Things have changed significantly since then with Mahoney out of the picture entirely in favor of the film's co-writer Carnahan and Brown opting instead to produce the film through his Indian Meadows Productions banner, leaving the door open for Sy.
Although it's tough to see Mahoney lose her shot at directing the film, Carnahan should be up to the challenge given his track record. He's known most for his action flicks that are equal parts frantic and stylish. His most recent effort, Copshop, was a well-received throwback action-thriller starring a favorite collaborator of his Frank Grillo along with Gerard Butler that really saw him perfect his style, even if it didn't reinvent the wheel when it comes to action. Other previous works of his include 2002's Narc, several episodes of The Blacklist, and the star-studded 2010 flick The A-Team. Though he ultimately didn't direct it, he also co-wrote the screenplay and story for Bad Boys for Life.
Carnahan co-wrote Shadow Force with Leon Chills who has seen plenty of success as a writer of late thanks to turns as a staff writer on Netflix's Spinning Out and as a story editor and occasional episode writer for Amazon's critically-acclaimed original series The Wilds. Joining Brown in production is Stephen “Dr.” Love who produces through his Made with Love Media company along with Washington and Pilar Savone through the former's Simpson Street banner. Kathy Atkinson, Indian Meadows’ Danielle Reardon, and Jennifer Wiley-Stockton all serve as executive producers with Aaron Edmonds and Jorge Alfaro Silva overseeing for Lionsgate and Quinn Curry overseeing for Made for Love.
Shadow Force currently doesn't have a release date. Check out Carnahan's announcement on the beginning of filming below and stay tuned here at Collider for more on the film as production kicks into gear.
In the meantime, you can catch Washington in the teaser trailer for The School for Good and Evil down below: