Jennifer Lopez to Star in ‘Atlas’ a Netflix Sci-Fi Flick 

Jennifer Lopez is about to star in a handful of new movies including the romantic comedy Marry Me with Owen Wilson and the action-packed Shotgun Wedding, but Deadline is exclusively reporting that she now has a Netflix sci-fi movie in the works called Atlas. This film comes out of the new partnership between Nuyorican Productions and Netflix that is expected to develop and produce scripted and unscripted shows as well as movies for Netflix. The project is just one of many that Netflix is greenlighting to help curb the ongoing gap in representation for Latino actors in Hollywood. 

Atlas, which is also produced by JLo, promises to be a Latina sci-fi classic with a plot that will be somewhat similar to sci-fi fans because it involves the unlikely partnership between an AI robot and someone who hates AI. So, it’s a little like that one movie with Robin Williams only instead of it being a romantic comedy about a robot servants love life, it’s a dystopian thriller about saving us from robot overlords threatening our very existence.

Hired to direct the project is Rampage director Brad Peyton who spoke to Deadline about how excited he is for filming telling the news outlet,

“Having the chance to direct Jennifer in the title role of this movie is a dream come true, as I know she’ll bring the incredible strength, depth and authenticity we’ve all come to admire from her work. Furthermore, Jeff and I are so excited to be back working with Scott, Ori, and the entire team at Netflix. They have been nothing short of amazing to work with and we are blessed to have the opportunity to make another movie on the service.”

Also involved in the new JLo movie Atlas is Safehouse Pictures heads Joby Harold and Tory Tunnel as well as JLo’s business partner of many years Benny Medina, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Courtney Baxter and Matt Schartz. 

On our side, we’re excited to see more collaboration not just with Latino actors, but with Latino production companies, especially in sci-fi a genre where we haven’t really seen all that many Latina representation. 

The movie is expected out on the streaming platform Netflix sometime in the coming year with details about production schedules still to be confirmed.