EXCLUSIVE: While looking to break into the Oscars race with his glowingly reviewed sophomore feature A Real Pain, Jesse Eisenberg has set up his next film, an untitled musical comedy to star Julianne Moore (The Room Next Door) and Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers).
The film follows a shy woman who is unexpectedly cast in a local production of an original musical. Under the spell of the strong-willed and enigmatic director, she loses herself in the role and the high-stakes world of this community theater production. The project reunites Eisenberg with Topic Studios and Fruit Tree, with whom he worked on A Real Pain. Pic will also see him reteam with Moore after tapping her to star opposite Stranger Things‘ Finn Wolfhard in his feature directorial debut, the Fruit Tree-backed When You Finish Saving the World.
Eisenberg will direct from his own script, also contributing original music to his latest. Fruit Tree, helmed by Emma Stone, Dave McCary and Ali Herting, developed the project with Eisenberg and is set to produce alongside Topic Studios, which is fully financing. Production is set to commence in early 2025. CAA Media Finance and WME Independent are repping the film’s distribution rights.
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Released in theaters on November 1st, A Real Pain stars Eisenberg as David, who along with mismatched cousin Benji (Kieran Culkin), embarks on a journey through Poland to pay tribute to their cherished grandmother. What begins as a heartfelt homage quickly unravels as lingering tensions between the pair resurface, all while they navigate the deeply intertwined threads of their family’s past. Solidifying Eisenberg’s status as an A-list director, the dramedy comes almost two years after When You Finish Saving the World, which A24 distributed. Searchlight snapped up worldwide rights out of Sundance, where Eisenberg won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award.
Eisenberg established himself as a filmmaker after building a lauded acting career, which has included an Oscar nomination for his turn as Mark Zuckerberg in David Fincher’s The Social Network. Earlier this year, he donned prosthetics to turn into a sasquatch for The Zellner Brothers’ Sasquatch Sunset, and next up for him on the acting front is Lionsgate’s Now You See Me 3.
Moore will next be seen starring opposite Tilda Swinton in Sony Pictures Classics’ drama The Room Next Door, marking the English-language debut of Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar, which releases December 20. Other upcoming projects include Netflix’s limited series Sirens, action thriller Control opposite James McAvoy, and Apple’s thriller Echo Valley opposite Sydney Sweeney and Domhnall Gleeson.
Coming off his third Golden Globe win and second Oscar nomination for his Alexander Payne reteam The Holdovers, Giamatti has lined up a diverse slate since wrapping Showtime’s Billions. Upcoming, he’ll be seen in a Hostel TV series from Eli Roth; Paramount+’s Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, which has him taking on a villain role; Downton Abbey 3; and Black Mirror Season 7.
An award-winning independent studio behind titles like Theater Camp and 100 Foot Wave, Topic Studios’ other upcoming projects include A24’s David Lowery-directed Mother Mary, starring Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel; Wicker, starring Olivia Colman; and Michael Covino’s Splitsville, starring Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona, for Neon.
A longtime supporter of Eisenberg, who starred with Stone in the Zombieland films, Fruit Tree’s slate includes Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia, starring Stone, for Focus Features, as well as Margaret Brown’s docuseries The Yogurt Shop Murders for HBO.
Moore is represented by WME, Entertainment 360, and Edelstein, Laird and Sobel; Giamatti by UTA, Kipperman Management, and Robert Offer and Shelby Weiser at Sloane, Offer, Weber, & Dern; Eisenberg by CAA and Felker Toczek Suddleson; Stone by WME, Anonymous Content, and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole; and McCary by Mosaic and Myman Greenspan Fox.
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