Rachel Mcadams Starts Filming 2034 in Belgrade
Rachel Mcadams has started filming Netflix’s AI thriller 2034 in Belgrade, taking over the lead role after Anne Hathaway exited. The production began on May 4, 2026, and it is already being built as a 2027 Netflix release.
Belgrade industrial locations
Filming opened in Belgrade’s industrial locations and the production also extends to Montenegro. That puts the movie in a real working corridor rather than a sealed studio environment, a choice that fits a project designed around friction between human creativity and automated systems.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt directs and co-writes 2034 with Kieran Fitzgerald, and he shares a story credit with Natasha Lyonne. Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman are producing through T-Street Productions. The package has enough names around it to signal that Netflix is treating this as more than a routine genre title.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s AI case
Gordon-Levitt has spent three years building a public case against unchecked AI in creative industries, and the film’s setup lines up with that push. In January 2026, he told Utah lawmakers, “AI companies are amoral. More laws govern the sale of a sandwich than the development of AI technology.”
That stance is baked into the project’s premise. 2034 portrays AI in a negative light and centers on the strain between human creativity and automated systems, which gives the film a sharper industrial edge than a standard futuristic thriller.
Anne Hathaway’s exit
Hathaway’s departure changed the casting path before cameras rolled, and McAdams stepped into a role that had already drawn attention inside Netflix’s development pipeline. McAdams brings a long studio track record through Spotlight, The Notebook, Doctor Strange, and the Sherlock Holmes series, which helps stabilize a film that moved from one lead to another.
Post-production timelines point to a 2027 Netflix release, so the current production phase is setting the film’s runway now. For viewers, the practical takeaway is simple: 2034 has moved from packaging to active filming, and McAdams is the face attached to a project built around AI anxiety, not AI hype.
