Robert Zemeckis isn't done yet — even if Hollywood once left him for dead.
Just a few months ago, the Back to the Future auteur was on WTF with Marc Maron, lamenting an industry paralyzed by indecision. “Nobody is in a hurry to make anything,” he said. “I think nobody knows what to do.” Fast forward to today, and Zemeckis has signed on to direct The Last Mrs. Parrish for Netflix, with Jennifer Lopez headlining.
Plot twist? More like potential comeback — or creative freefall.
Based on Liv Constantine's best-selling novel, The Last Mrs. Parrish isn't your typical glossy revenge drama. Lopez plays a cunning grifter who infiltrates a wealthy family by befriending the wife and seducing the husband — only to discover that the “perfect life” she covets hides darker secrets.
Sounds like prestige pulp. Add in a script from Andrea Berloff (Straight Outta Compton) and John Gatins (Flight), and this has the makings of a slow-burn thriller with bite. It's also a reunion — Gatins and Zemeckis last teamed up on Flight, the 2012 drama that scored Denzel Washington an Oscar nom and proved Zemeckis still had dramatic chops under the hood.
But let's not ignore the elephant in the screening room.
Zemeckis's post-Flight track record? Wobbly. From The Polar Express's dead-eyed animation to Pinocchio's critical faceplant, he's become a poster child for big-budget flops. His most recent effort, Here, made just $12 million off a $60 million budget. Despite some critics clawing for a reappraisal, audiences didn't bite. The damage? Done.
So what makes Parrish different?
First, the Netflix factor. This isn't a wide theatrical release—it's a streaming play. Netflix is known for giving auteurs creative leeway (The Irishman, Marriage Story) while also burying duds (The Gray Man, anyone?). With Zemeckis's past box office woes, this might be his safest shot at relevance — or at least reinvention.
Second, J.Lo. She's riding a strange post-Shotgun Wedding wave: commercially bankable, critically unpredictable. Pairing her with Zemeckis could bring sparks — or static. But there's precedent for aging auteurs finding late-career gold with the right muse. Think Scorsese and DiCaprio. Or Fincher and Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl, a film Parrish will inevitably be compared to (fair or not).
Third, genre matters. The psychological thriller is Netflix's sweet spot — You, The Woman in the House Across the Street, The Stranger. If Zemeckis can tap into that audience's appetite for glossy manipulation and slow-burn tension, Parrish might just dodge the curse.
Closer:
Here's the uncomfortable truth: Zemeckis may never recapture the magic of Forrest Gump or Who Framed Roger Rabbit. But maybe he doesn't need to. Maybe what he needs — like Lopez's character in Parrish — is to fake it ‘til he makes it. And if he plays his cards right, this twisted tale of deception could mark the director's most interesting pivot in decades.
Would you bet on a comeback—or a catastrophe? Drop your predictions below.
