After announcing that she’d be taking some time off from Hollywood a year ago, it’s been all quiet on the Jennifer Lawrence front. However, it seems as if the Academy Award-winning actress is ready to make her comeback.
Variety is reporting that Lawrence is set to team with first-time filmmaker Lila Neugebauer on a new film that will be going into production later this year.
Now, you may be wondering, “Jennifer Lawrence has taken a break from acting? Since when?” And you wouldn’t be wrong asking that. Despite taking more than a year off, the actress was seen in last year’s “Red Sparrow” and will be seen in the upcoming “X-Men” sequel “Dark Phoenix.” That’s because “Dark Phoenix” has been delayed for almost an entire year and was filmed back in 2017. So yes, she has taken a break, albeit, a short one that doesn’t seem to be affecting her output all that much.
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In addition to the film being the directorial debut for Neugebauer, it will also mark the first feature credit for writer Elizabeth Sanders. Moral of the story? If you want your first film to get financed and distribution, all you have to do is get Jennifer Lawrence to star. Easy peasy.
Neugebauer has quickly made a name for herself as a theater director with several off-Broadway credits. However, most recently, she ventured on Broadway with a revival of Kenneth Lonergan’s “The Waverly Gallery,” starring Elaine May and Lucas Hedges. This apparently was enough to catch the eye of Lawrence and secure her first feature film.
We don’t actually have any plot details to speak of, at the moment. All we know for sure is that Lawrence is involved, with the first-time writer and the first-time director. In addition, A24 is producing the effort. And if you’re a regular reader of The Playlist, you are probably familiar with A24’s stable of films, including “Lady Bird,” “Moonlight,” “Eighth Grade,” “mid90s,” “Hereditary,” and “First Reformed,” just to name several. Coming up, the studio has the films “Midsommar” from filmmaker Ari Aster, “Uncut Gems” from the Safdie Brothers, and “Macbeth” from Joel Coen.
There’s no release date set for the untitled film, but it is being reported that production is set to begin in mid-June in New Orleans.