If things had gone off as planned for Jamie Foxx’s Amazon movie The Burial, the project would have seen the Soul actor teaming up with Harrison Ford in a movie based on a wildly true story. Sadly, the project has seen a bit of a shake-up, with Mr. Ford leaving his intended role entirely. However, The Burial couldn’t have landed a more perfect replacement, as instead of Harrison Ford playing the lead role, it’s Tommy Lee Jones, his co-star from The Fugitive, who’s going to take the vacancy.
Based on a true story about dueling funeral home directors, and a lawsuit involving “a handshake deal gone wrong,” The Burial will now see Tommy Lee Jones starring as Jeremiah O’Keefe, one half of the feuding party. Deadline’s reporting of events comes almost a year after Jamie Foxx initially set up the project as both a producer and actor, slating himself to play the role of attorney Willie Gary. No reason was given as to why Harrison Ford left The Burial, which is set under director Emily Betts, with a script by writer Doug Wright.
No offense to the acting skills of Harrison Ford, but landing Tommy Lee Jones as a Mississippi businessman ready to go to court is a pretty amazing save. The Burial will absolutely benefit from Jones’ no-nonsense drawl, even though he is a Texan himself. Though with this new casting, Jamie Foxx may need to tweak his approach, as we’ve all seen what happens when Mr. Jones is around buffoonery that he cannot sanction.
As for Harrison Ford’s surprise departure, one could presume that the scheduled start of The Burial’s production may clash with his current gig in the fifth and final Indiana Jones movie. As Ford encountered some injuries that delayed his own responsibilities on Indiana Jones 5, the legendary action star may need to make up for lost time on director James Mangold’s big sendoff for the series. Nowhere could this be more apparent than with Harrison Ford’s recent return to set after incurring said injury this past June.
Jamie Foxx himself is certainly busy, as he’s not only dodging questions about whether he will or won’t be in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but he’s also working on several other projects at the moment. With his Mike Tyson series still in the works, you’d think that maybe Foxx would be taking a breather. But he not only has time for a movie like The Burial on his plate, he’s also ready to pitch the world on a remake of Stephen King’s Misery with a Black lead.
The Burial currently does not have a release date, nor do we know when production will start. For now, we’ll just have to imagine what the on-screen teaming of Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones will look like, as we wait for more information. Though should you want to look at something more concrete, check out the 2021 release schedule for what’s headed to theaters throughout the rest of the year.
