Earlier this week, Collider reported thatJennifer Lawrenceisset to starin an untitled new film from A24 and acclaimed theater directorLila Neugebauer, who will make her feature directing debut with the project. While plot details were initially being kept under wraps, Collider has now learned what the film is about, and it should catapult the Oscar-winning actress back into the awards conversation.
Written by first-time screenwriterElizabeth Sanders, the new film will find Lawrence playing a U.S. solider who suffers a traumatic brain injury in Afghanistan and struggles to recover back home. Oscar winnerScott RudinandEli Bushare producing alongside Lawrence and her Excellent Cadaver partnerJustine Polsky. Production is expected to start in June in New Orleans.
Meanwhile, Collider has also learned thatAtlantastarBrian Tyree Henryholds the offer to star opposite Lawrence. Henry doesn’t have a deal yet, and discussions are still super early, but he’s the choice for what I understand to be the male lead. Now, I haven’t read the script and don’t have the character breakdown, but if I had to wager a guess based on my knowledge of how movies work, I’d assume he’s either playing Lawrence’s commanding officer, or her therapist of some kind back at home. It all depends on how much time the film spends with Lawrence’s character on the battlefield.
Lawrence has been intrigued by the idea of doing a war-themed picture for some time. At one point, she was attached to play photojournalistLynsey Addario, who risked her life by heading into war zones, inSteven Spielberg’s adaptation of her memoirIt’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War. It’s interesting that she chosethisproject, from a first-time filmmaker, no less, as her first film following a self-imposed sabbatical that has lasted roughly a year-and-a-half.
Lawrence last starred in the underrated thrillerRed Sparrow, and she’ll soon be seen one last time as Mystique in this summer’sDark Phoenix. As a producer, she has been working withAdam McKayto develop theElizabeth HolmesmovieBad Blood, which would see her play the controversial Theranos founder.
Henry is a two-time Emmy nominee who has been super busy of late, having wrapped five studio movies – Legendary’s blockbusterGodzilla vs. Kong,Todd Phillips' DC movieJoker, New Line’sMelissa McCarthycomedySuperintelligence,Joe Wright’s thrillerThe Woman in the Windowand a starring role in MGM’sChild’s Playreboot. He has also wrapped the indie dramaThe Outside Story, and he’s attached to star inThey Cloned Tyronefor MACRO. It’s unclear whenAtlanta’s third season heads back into production, but this A24 movie isn’t expected to be a terribly long shoot, so I don’t expect scheduling to be a problem. It’ll all come down to whether Henry is impressed by what’s on the page. He has done a great job picking projects of late, fromWidowstoIf Beale Street Could Talk, so here’s hoping that Sanders' script offers him a juicy role he can sink his teeth into.
Neugebauer made her Broadway debut last year directing the revival ofKenneth Lonergan’sThe Waverly GallerystarringElaine MayandLucas Hedges, and she also helmed an episode of the HBO anthology seriesRoom 104.
Henry is represented by CAA and JWS Entertainment, which did not respond to a request for comment. A representative for A24 declined to comment.
