Noah Baumbach Netflix Movie ‘White Noise’: What We Know So Far

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Noah Baumbach is working with Netflix on multiple movie projects after he signed his deal with Netflix back in January 2021. The first of his new projects is a film adapting the Don Delillo novel, White Noise. Here’s everything we know so far about the new movie. 

First reported back in September 2020, the movie was eventually confirmed to be in development at Netflix in January 2021. The movie is set to adapt the 1985 novel White Noise by Don DeLillo which is part of Penguin’s Orange Collection.

The project is notably Baumbach’s first foray into adapting a screenplay and directing it. Up until now, all of the movies he’s directed have been original works.

What’s White Noise about?

Described as a family drama and a comedy, the movie will be a faithful adaptation of the book by most accounts.

Here’s what you can expect.

“At once hilarious and horrifying, Don DeLillo’s White Noise dramatizes a contemporary American family’s attempt to deal with the mundane conflicts of day-to-day life while grappling with the larger philosophical issues of love, death, and the possibility of happiness in an uncertain world.”

In addition, we’re told this adaptation will feature heavily on the family’s four siblings Fritz, Debbie, Megan, and Walker.

The movie progresses when an airborne toxic event causes the small-town to evacuate.

Who is behind White Noise for Netflix?

Front and center on the film is Noah Baumbach is who is both directing and adapting the screenplay. Before Baumbach was attached to the project (it’s been optioned since October 2016), it was originally reported that Barry Sonnenfeld and Michael Almereyda were attached.

Douglas Aibel serves as the casting director for the movie while Mayra Auad, David Heyman, and Uri Singer serve as executive producer and producer respectively.

Heyday Films and Passage Pictures serve as the production companies behind the movie

Who is starring in White Noise for Netflix?

The cast for White Noise is impressive and continues to grow.

adam driver geta gerwig main characters white noise netflix

In December 2020, we first reported that Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig were on board to star.

Adam Driver will play the role of Jack Gladney who is described as a professor of (yes this is real), Hitler studies at a liberal arts college.

Playing Jack’s wife in the movie will be Greta Gerwig who between them have six kids together.

Don Cheadle was announced to play the role of Murray / Morty in July 2021 who is a supporting character. His character is a colleague of Jack’s who is vying to create a similar study around Elvis Presley.

Other supporting roles include Sam Nivola who will play the role of Fritz and Raffey Cassidy as Debbie.

Also, thanks to a report from Bazaar, we know that both kids of British actress Emily Mortimer will appear. May Nivola as we previously mentioned with Samuel John Nivola also starring.

Variety reports that Jodie Turner-Smith is also in talks to star.

Where is White Noise in production?

Current Production Status: Filming as of late June 2021

When we first reported on the movie back in September 2020, all we knew is that the movie was going to be filmed in 2021. Of course, with restrictions across the US back in September, it wasn’t exactly clear when that would happen.

Then, various production schedules listed the movie to film at some point in summer 2021 with most seemingly pointing towards the end of June 2021 and was going to be filming under the working title of Wheat Germ.

On June 24th, The Chronicle Telegram which covers news for Elyria and Lorain reported that rehearsals on the movie had begun and that sets were being built across in Wellington and Oberlin. They stated that shoots were planned for mid-July 2021. Wellington Mayor Hans Schneider told The Chronichle:

“I think it’s great. Anytime you get to showcase your community … it’s an opportunity for us to put our best foot forward. There’s a unique feel to the downtown district. All those buildings were built in the 1800s — (and there’s) the architecture of the Town Hall and how it commands a presence over the area, the beauty of the Herrick Memorial Library and the downtown storefronts.”

On June 30th, WKYC Studios posted a short clip of Adam Driver arriving to begin preparation for filming. A short news segment which we’ve embedded below. It’s a blurry photo of Adam Driver but a photo nevertheless!

A local news station also picked up on the fact that filming had begun with a 30-second segment on News 5 Cleveland with various set pictures included.

Additional pictures of the various filming locations have been spotted by residents that have been posted to Twitter:

According to productions schedules that we’ve seen, the movie will film throughout the summer and wrap up in late September 2021. Conflicting reports suggest that filming may not end until January 2022.

Once wrapping, Greta Gerwig will be moving onto direct her next film Barbie which will be distributed by Warner Brothers. Baumbach helped pen the script alongside Gerwig.

When will White Noise release on Netflix?

Our best guess is that Netflix will try and time the movie for the awards seasons. That means a late 2022 release date seems most likely at this point. We’ll keep you posted though.

Until the release of White Noise, you can catch a number of Noah Baumbach movies on Netflix which we track via our library section. Also, Noah’s first award-winning movie is still available on Netflix in the form of Marriage Story and his earlier movie starring Adam Sandler, The Meyerowitz Stories.

Let us know if you’re excited about the release of White Noise in the comments below.