Past Lives director Celine Song will release her new film – The Materialists – in June of this year, it’s been revealed. More here.
Celine Song’s Past Lives marked an astonishing debut, marking out the writer/director as a filmmaker with incredible potential tail. The film was a Sundance sensation and also picked up a nomination for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay at last year’s Oscars.
Now, Song is faced with the daunting prospect of that tricky second film. A24 is once again backing the filmmaker with her upcoming film, The Materialists. Song is working with a bigger budget and established Hollywood stars this time out and anticipation is high to see if she can once again explore the emotional breadth and complexity of being a human being in the same way that she did so beautifully in Past Lives.
The film stars Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal and is set to ‘follow a young, ambitious New York City matchmaker who finds herself torn between two men, including her imperfect ex.’
A24 has set the film for a nationwide June release in the US, meaning we can probably expect to see it here in the UK around the same time. That summer release spot and the potential lack of a festival debut seems to confirm the speculation that Song’s follow-up is going to be a more commercial endeavour. That was hinted at in a story we covered last year, where one of the film’s producers was quoted as saying: ‘It feels like she makes a different movie every time, that she’s going to be the kind of filmmaker who doesn’t make the same movie twice.’
Perhaps when The Materialists has found its way into the world, we might learn more about Song’s mysterious third film, a project which has reportedly been set up at Searchlight. Presently, next to nothing is known about that one though, but anA24 rom com helmed by a talented filmmaker getting a prime summer release slot? That’ll do nicely.
More as we hear it.
