EXCLUSIVE: Rebel Wilson is back in the director’s chair amid the volcanic dispute over her debut feature The Deb.
Wilson, star of Pitch Perfect and Bridesmaids, will write, direct, produce, and star in comedy Girl Group. Production is underway in the UK with an ensemble cast including Randall Park (WandaVision) and BAFTA-winner Sheridan Smith (Mrs Biggs).
Produced by Live Nation Studios (A Star is Born) and Future Artists Entertainment (Poker Face), Wilson stars in Girl Group as a pop diva who’s been kicked out of her own group’s reunion tour and slapped with a community service court order.
She seizes the chance to stage a comeback by coaching a group of misfit teen girls for a major record label audition, only to push them too far, forcing her to confront her toxic industry — and her own streak of self-destruction.
Deadline first reported on Girl Group in 2019 when it was housed at Lionsgate, though the film has shifted focus considerably after it was originally announced as a story about a Korean American high school girl who enters a talent contest to perform alongside a K-pop band.
Wilson’s first feature, The Deb, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, but remains unreleased amid a messy legal wrangle between the Australian star and the film’s British producers. Up next for Wilson is Tinsel Town, a Sky Original Cinema holiday film co-starring Kiefer Sutherland, which is also being produced by Future Artists Entertainment.
Girl Group‘s other cast members include Jamie Lee O’Donnell (Derry Girls) and Guz Khan (The Gentlemen). Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts, Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm, and All Saints’ Shaznay Lewis will form the band Girlfriends alongside Wilson’s character. Loren Gray will also star.
Producers conducted a nationwide search across the U.S. to discover the young leads who will play the teen girl group coached by Wilson. Their names are yet to be announced. Wicked choreographer Chris Scott is also on board.
The film is produced by Wilson under her Camp Sugar banner, alongside Matt Williams of Future Artists Entertainment. Ryan Kroft and Michael Rapino executive produce for Live Nation Studios.
Wilson described Girl Group as the “ultimate girl power movie.” She added: “Ever since being a part of the Pitch Perfect franchise, I’ve always wanted to create something similar. Girl Group is just so fun and full of spirit that’s ready to have you singing and dancing out of the cinema.”
Kroft said the feature hopes to capture the “timeless magic of a girl group,” while Williams added that it was a “true celebration of girl power.”
Wilson is represented by UTA; Tavistock Wood in the UK; Creative Representation in Australia, and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.
The post Rebel Wilson Teams With Live Nation To Direct ‘Girl Group,’ Her First Film After ‘The Deb’ Dispute; Cast Includes Randall Park & Sheridan Smith appeared first on Deadline.
