A24 has boarded Jesse Eisenberg‘s next film behind the camera — the untitled musical comedy, starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, on which we were first to report in November. Sources said this was a worldwide negative pickup, in the vein of the studio’s deal for Heretic, the horror hit from Scott Beck and Bryan Woods.
The film follows a shy woman (Moore) who is unexpectedly cast in a community theater musical production, going to extremes as she loses herself in the role. Production kicked off this month, with Halle Bailey (The Little Mermaid), Havana Rose Liu (Lurker), and Bernadette Peters (Mozart in the Jungle) among the newcomers to the cast.
Fruit Tree’s Emma Stone, Dave McCary and Ali Herting will produce, with Topic Studios serving as executive producers. Bonnie Milligan, Colton Ryan, Lilli Cooper, and Maulik Pancholy round out the cast.
The project continues Eisenberg’s partnership with Fruit Tree and A24, following his directorial debut When You Finish Saving the World, starring Moore and Finn Wolfhard, as well as Fruit Tree and A24’s previous collaborations on I Saw the TV Glow and The Curse. Eisenberg recently worked with both Fruit Tree and Topic Studios on Searchlight’s A Real Pain, which earned Kieran Culkin an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and Eisenberg a nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
In addition to writing and directing, Eisenberg wrote the original music and lyrics for the new film’s musical, with music supervisor Steven Gizicki (A Complete Unknown) and executive music producer Bill Sherman (In The Heights), choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton), and cinematography by Drew Daniels (Anora).
Known for starring in The Little Mermaid and The Color Purple, Bailey also recently signed on to star opposite Regé-Jean Page in Universal’s Italianna. She is repped by CAA.
Liu was seen this year at Sundance in Cooper Raiff’s indie series Hal & Harper and the thriller Lurker, which notched one of the few deals of the festival. Her upcoming slate includes Michael Showalter’s Oh. What. Fun. at Amazon MGM, John Carney’s musical comedy Power Ballad at Lionsgate, and crime thriller Tuner opposite Leo Woodall and Dustin Hoffman. She is repped by CAA, Anonymous Content, and Schreck Rose Dapello.
A Golden Globe winner and multiple Emmy nominee, Peter’s recent projects have included Netflix’s tick, tick… BOOM!, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist on NBC and the Zoey’s film that followed it, High Desert at Apple, and Amazon’s award winner Mozart in the Jungle. Upcoming, she also has the Western Last Train to Fortune with Mary Steenburgen and Malcolm McDowell. She is repped by WME.
Milligan is repped by CESD, Untitled, and Schreck Rose Dapello; Ryan by Gersh and TFC Management; Cooper by Artists & Representatives and Ivy Rocky Management; and Pancholy by Artists & Representatives and Brillstein Entertainment Partners. CAA Media Finance, WME Independent, Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole and Felker Toczek Suddleson negotiated the deal.
