Celine Song, director of one of 2023’s breakout Past Lives, now has two projects in development, with A24 already backing Song’s next film.
Celine Song’s Past Lives was an astonishing achievement, an exquisitely-constructed film that continues to stand out amid a year of wonderful cinema. We’re hoping that some noteworthy awards recognition will crown the film’s achievements but even if that doesn’t happen, Song’s bewitching debut film (which she also wrote) marks her out as an incredible talent that should be nurtured and supported in her ambition to tell other stories, whatever they may be.
Happily, that seems to be the case. It’s already confirmed that A24 will be re-teaming with Song for her follow-up project. We don’t know a lot about that one, but thanks to a GQ interview back in December we do know that ‘soon, Song will begin production on her follow-up feature, a film called The Materialists, backed again by A24. While details are slight, one of the film’s producers does reveal that ‘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.’
The Materialists is expected to shoot this spring then, but according to Hollywood scooper Jeff Sneider, the in-demand Song may have already confirmed her third project. According to Sneider, Song has agreed to develop her third film with Searchlight.
Granted, that’s not much to go on, but given that Song hasn’t even commenced production on her second film yet, it’s a sign of how highly she is prized right now thanks to the critical reception to Past Lives. Searchlight, it seems, are more than willing to play the long game and secure Song’s services, even if that means waiting until 2025 before cameras roll on that project, whatever it may be.
Both of Song’s next projects are clearly some way out, then, but we’re just happy to see studios lining up to back an artist to make (what are presumably going to be) personal films with the necessary creative freedoms required for her to flourish as an artist. We’d expect to hear some casting news for A24’s The Materialists soon, given that it films this spring. We can’t help wondering about that title… is Song planning to add to the recent rich vein of ‘Eat The Rich’ films that was spearheaded by 2019’s Parasite? That’s just all speculation, of course, and hopefully soon we’ll have something more concrete to share with you.
Read more: Greta Lee thought she’d lost the Past Lives lead when a producer confused her for Greta Gerwig
