Past Lives Director Calls Upon Star Wars And Marvel Stars For A New A24 Rom-Com

Every now and then, an up-and-coming talent practically forces the entire industry to sit up and take notice. Writer/director Celine Song did exactly that with her feature film debut "Past Lives," the heartbreakingly good romance/drama about childhood sweethearts who reunite decades later amid vastly different circumstances in their lives. The A24 film rode an unstoppable wave of hype to rarified Oscars territory, snagging nominations for both Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. Now, the filmmaker is lining up her next major project ... and she's bringing along a trio of very familiar faces, too.

Variety has the news that not only will Song team up with indie studio A24 once again, but she's also getting her pick of Hollywood's biggest stars to come along for the ride. No less a cast of A-listers than Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal, and Dakota Johnson are currently in talks to lead a new, original romantic comedy titled "The Materialists." Although no information is available as to what roles each of these name-brand actors will be playing, the report describes the film as "...a New York-set rom-com following a high-end matchmaker who gets involved with a wealthy man." Roughly 75% of the internet is likely foaming at the mouth (respectfully) for the actual love story to be simmering between Evans and Pascal's characters, but odds are low that anyone would cast Johnson to be stuck as a third wheel.

But, hey, you never know!

It's way too early in Celine Song's career to make any sweeping judgments based on one acclaimed debut and only the scantest details of her newest effort, to be clear, but is the "Past Lives" filmmaker well on her way to carving out a niche for adult-minded, original romance movies? One can certainly hope since audiences have been practically starving for studio-programmed romances and romantic comedies throughout the last several years. It's bizarre, particularly in light of the success of recent movies like "Crazy Rich Asians" and, in 2023 alone, both "Anyone But You" and "No Hard Feelings." All three boasted genuine movie stars as the leads, catered to a demographic (primarily women and the date-night crowd) who haven't had tons of moviegoing options lately and broke through at the box office in emphatic fashion.

With "Past Lives" rocketing to the center of the Academy Awards conversation, A24 and Hollywood as a whole would be well-served by simply giving filmmakers like Song all the space, budget, and time needed to keep things cooking. While a Best Picture win is probably a long shot at this point, you just know that A24 is raring to splash "From the Oscar-nominated director of 'Past Lives'" all over the marketing for "The Materialists" whenever the film is ready to come out. On that topic, Variety also notes that the film is scheduled to begin production as early as this May. Celine Song is returning to help save romance in movies all over again — you absolutely love to see it.