This is our first update of 2017. 2016 has been a great year to look back on, be sure to check out our review in case you missed it, and we also expect 2017 is going to be another great year. 3 movies – “The Zookeeper’s Wife”, “Woman Walks Ahead”, “Molly’s Game” – are expected to be released this year while Jessica is also attached to “The Division” and “Painkiller Jane”. We will try to give an overview and summary of what we can expect of Jessica’s career in 2017.

The Zookeeper’s Wife (Focus Features)

Director: Niki Caro | Writers: Angela Workman, Diane Ackerman (book) | Cast: Daniel Brühl, Johan Heldenbergh
Log line: The real-life story of one working wife and mother who became a hero to hundreds during World War II.
Current status: Completed.
Release: March 31, 2017 (US) | May 5, 2017 (UK)
News tidbit: Jessica wrote an essay while filming the movie about how it was “transformative” to work with “way more” women than she’s ever collaborated with before on a film production.
External Links: Official Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Official plot: The real-life story of one working wife and mother who became a hero to hundreds during World War II. In 1939 Poland, Antonina Zabinski (Jessica Chastain) and her husband, Dr. Jan Zabinski (Johan Heldenbergh), have the Warsaw Zoo flourishing under his stewardship and her care. When their country is invaded by the Nazis, Jan and Antonina are stunned – and forced to report to the Reich’s newly appointed chief zoologist, Lutz Heck (Daniel Brühl). To fight back on their own terms, Antonina and Jan covertly begin working with the Resistance – and put into action plans to save lives out of what has become the Warsaw Ghetto, with Antonina putting herself and even her children at great risk.

Woman Walks Ahead (CAA for representation)

Director: Susanna White | Writers: Steven Knight | Cast: Sam Rockwell, Ciarán Hinds, David Midthunder, Michael Greyeyes.
Log line: Woman Walks Ahead is the story of Catherine Weldon, a portrait painter from 1890s Brooklyn, who travels to Dakota to paint a portrait of Sitting Bull, and becomes embroiled in the Lakota peoples’ struggle over the rights to their land.
Current status: Post-Production
Release: TBA 2017
News tidbit: Jessica shared an adorable on-set photo on her official instagram account alongside co-star Sam Rockwell.

The Native American drama stars Chastain as Caroline Weldon, an artist who moves from Brooklyn to the Standing Rock Reservation in the Dakotas to advise Sioux chieftain Sitting Bull (Michael Greyeyes) as he fights to keep the land for his people. She wrote letters to the federal government on behalf of Sitting Bull and eventually lived on the land with her teenage son for several years, even though she was vilified by the press, which called her “Sitting Bull’s white squaw.”

Molly’s Game (STX Entertainment )

Director: Aaron Sorkin | Writers: Aaron Sorkin, Molly Bloom (memoir) | Cast: Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Chris O’Dowd, Graham Greene
Log line: Molly Bloom, a young skier and former Olympic hopeful becomes a successful entrepreneur (and a target of an FBI investigation) when she establishes a high-stakes, international poker game.
Current status: Filming.
Release: TBA (US) | January 19, 2018 (UK)
News tidbit: Jessica has shared various on-set photos of herself on her official instagram, including an adorable group shot in which she announced the movie would go on a holiday break before Christmas.

Jessica stars as Molly Bloom. Stung after failing to make the Olympic team, Bloom decided to take a year off before law school and get a job as a waitress in Los Angeles. Through a bizarre set of circumstances as well as untapped entrepreneurial skills, she ended up making millions by running, for eight years, the most exclusive high-stakes poker game in the world. Her life came crashing down when 17 FBI agents armed with automatic weapons rang her doorbell.

The Division

While making this update we realized we never made a post at our main site with the news that Jessica joined “The Division”. The Wrap reported late last summer that Jessica joined Jake Gyllenhaal in Tom Clancy Video Game Adaptation “The Division”. The news was confirmed by the the company.

Jake Gyllenhaal is attached to produce and star in Ubisoft’s adaptation of its own hit game “Tom Clancy‘s The Division.” Released on March 8 this year, the game was an instant success, with the highest number of first-day sales on record for the gaming company.

“The Division” takes place in the aftermath of a small pox pandemic in dystopian New York. Players attempt to rebuild, investigate and fight crime in the city.

“We are excited to collaborate with Jessica and Jake, two of Hollywood’s most talented actors and perfect creative collaborators to help bring Tom Clancy‘s The Division to the big screen,” said Gerard Guillemot, Ubisoft Motion Pictures CEO, in a statement.

“Attaching Jake and Jessica is part of our development philosophy of working closely with top talent from the earliest stages to collaborate on a high quality film,” added Matt Phelps, Vice President, Ubisoft Motion Pictures.

2018 & beyond

Jessica currently has two movies which are expected to be released in 2018: The Death and Life of John F. Donovan and The Division. The former is already in post-production, while it was reported last year – as we mentioned above – that Jessica joined Jake Gyllenhaal in the adaptation of “The Division”. Late last year it was also announced that Jessica will play Jane Vasko in the future adaptation of Painkiller Jane.

Jessica launched her own production company Freckle Films last year. The company will produce The Division and Painkiller Jane. Furthermore, Freckle Films also optioned two books: The Magician’s Lie by Greer Macallister and Camille Pagan’s novel, Life and Other Near-Death Experiences.

January 3, 2017   Lindsey