Stone’s ‘White Lies’ Casts Dafoe, Douglas, and Barkin

Oliver Stone has wrapped “White Lies,” his first narrative feature since the 2016 true-events drama “Snowden” and a project he has been trying to make for more than a decade. The film, written and directed by Stone, stars Josh Hartnett in the lead and has rounded out its cast with Michael Douglas, Willem Dafoe, Ellen Barkin, Homer Gere, and Yvonne Chapman, joining the previously announced Leila George. Production lasted nearly three months across three international locations.

Stone has publicly suggested he was “blacklisted” from Hollywood in the years since his 2017 documentary series on Russian President Vladimir Putin, a stretch during which he concentrated on non-fiction. Eight years ago, a version of “White Lies” had Benicio del Toro attached. Stone described the project to Variety this spring as a long-gestating personal work that follows three generations of one family. Variety’s profile is tied to the 40th anniversary of “Platoon.”

A Decade Away, Then a Quiet Wrap

“White Lies” began principal photography in mid-March, with the wrap announced this week. It is the 79-year-old director’s first narrative feature since “Snowden,” and the production made one detail of the shoot public before the cameras stopped. The new cast names were disclosed as the production commenced, and Stone used the moment to single out part of the crew.

The cast was a delight from beginning to end. And the Italian crew was the warmest I ever worked with. I’m profoundly grateful for this opportunity.

Stone, the writer and director, said this in a statement released through the production. Hartnett’s casting was confirmed in March, when Hartnett’s casting and the project’s first announcement were reported. The full cast list and producer credits for the new additions are in the June wrap report on the production.

Fernando Sulichin produces alongside Maximilien Arvelaiz and Jordan Gertner for Sulichin’s New Element Media, the company behind Stone’s “Savages” and “Snowden.” Tarak Ben Ammar and Gianluca Leurini of Italy’s Eagle Pictures join James Packer and Jose Luis Manzano as executive producers.

The Cast as a Mirror of Stone’s Career

Two of the new additions are reunions rather than debuts. Dafoe, who appeared in Stone’s 1986 “Platoon” and 1989 “Born on the Fourth of July,” is back for the first time since. Douglas, who played Gordon Gekko in 1987’s “Wall Street,” is also reteaming with the director. “It was thrilling to reunite Oliver with Willem and Michael, two extraordinary actors who starred in his iconic films Platoon and Wall Street respectively,” producer Sulichin said.

The other three names are new to Stone’s filmography. Barkin last appeared in Netflix’s “The Out-Laws” with Pierce Brosnan. Homer Gere, son of Richard Gere, had a stint on HBO’s “Euphoria.” Dafoe’s recent credits include Wes Anderson’s “Phoenician Scheme” and Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu.”

World of Reel called the Dafoe and Douglas returns a “full-circle moment” for the director, given that the new ensemble pairs actors from two of Stone’s most iconic films. Sulichin said it was “a joy to see Oliver work with the amazingly talented Homer and Yvonne for the first time.”

For Douglas and Dafoe, the reunion is a marker of how far back Stone’s relationships with major actors run. By the 2020s, the bench of returning players had thinned, and the financing for the project had to come from Europe rather than from the studios that once backed Stone’s bigger films.

What White Lies Is Actually About

“White Lies” follows Jack Freeman, played by Hartnett, a child of divorce now repeating his parents’ mistakes in his own marriage and with his own children. Feeling trapped, he embarks on a lust-filled journey to free himself, only to find himself more lost than before. His path changes when he meets a woman whose life is the opposite of his own. The story is told across three generations.

Producers have described the project as a “departure” from Stone’s earlier work, focused on family and intimacy rather than state power. The three-generation framing is unusual for a director best known for war and political films. In a March statement, Stone called it “an eternal story of love.”

Ten Years Without a Scripted Feature

The gap between “Snowden” and “White Lies” is more than a decade, the longest Stone has gone without directing a narrative feature. In that period he concentrated on documentaries, including his 2017 series on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It’s a personal story about people and relationships, husbands, wives, children, grandparents. It’s about three generations of a family, and hopefully I’ll pull it off. I’m very close.

A recent Variety interview tied to the 40th anniversary of “Platoon” found Stone, the writer and director, saying financing for his projects had dried up. “I’ve been pretty busy setting up this lower-budget feature called ‘White Lies,’ which I’ve tried to do for many years,” he told the outlet. The full interview, including his reflections on “Platoon” and his post-2016 career, is in Stone’s 40-year reflection on Platoon and the decade since.

World of Reel reported that Stone has publicly suggested he was “blacklisted” from Hollywood because of his Putin documentary. The Variety profile took a softer line: “I’ve learned my lesson,” Stone said. “Keep your views quiet.” Hartnett, the lead, called the project “entirely new material from a filmmaker I have long admired and am excited to work with.”

Stone, in his March Deadline statement, said he feels “really like I’m starting again, as when I made Platoon and Salvador in 1986.” Stone is represented by John Burnham of Atlas Artists.

European Money, Three Continents of Set

“White Lies” was financed by European backers who stepped in last year to back a project that had fallen apart several times before. Filming took place across nearly three months of production in three principal cities, with the international footprint reflecting both the financing and the story. The shoot began in mid-March and concluded before this week’s announcement.

• Rome, Italy: Stone singled out the local crew in his wrap statement
• Bangkok, Thailand: one of the production’s three principal locations
• Sofia, Bulgaria: the third leg of the international shoot

Sulichin is the lead producer on the film. His New Element Media produced Stone’s “Savages” and “Snowden,” and the European partners on this shoot include Tarak Ben Ammar and Gianluca Leurini of Italy’s Eagle Pictures. James Packer and Jose Luis Manzano round out the executive producer roster. The Eagle Pictures tie is part of the European financing that finally got the film made, per World of Reel.

Stone signed with Atlas Artists in part, the World of Reel report noted, to “make that dream a reality” of one more narrative feature. The crew was international, with the Rome-based production joined by local teams in Bangkok and Sofia. The shoot moved from the Italian capital to the Thai capital and on to the Bulgarian capital over the course of the run.

A Release Date Is Still to Come

No release date has been announced for “White Lies.” A 2010s version of the project, with Del Toro attached, never made it to production, and the 2026 version is the first to clear principal photography. Until a distributor or festival slot is named, the film exists only as a wrapped shoot and a finished cast list.

• 79: Stone’s age as production wrapped
• More than a decade: the gap since “Snowden” (2016)
• Nearly 3 months: production length, mid-March to early June
• $137.9 million: “Platoon” box office in 1986

Hartnett, the lead, comes into the film off a strong 2024-2025 stretch that included M. Night Shyamalan’s “Trap” and a guest stint on “The Bear.” He has the Amazon/MGM thriller “Verity” with Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson lined up for release. The rest of the cast is similarly busy. Dafoe has Wes Anderson’s “Phoenician Scheme” and Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu” in release. Douglas’s last major screen role was “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” A release path for “White Lies” is, for now, the only major open question.