Hot off the wire: Zendaya has signed on to star in an untitled sci-fi feature that Alex Garland will write and direct for A24. Plot details are under wraps, but cameras are set to roll in 2027.
Garland is current in post production on his priciest swing yet, the "Elden Ring" adaptation starring Kit Connor, Cailee Spaeny, Ben Whishaw, Nick Offerman and Tom Burke. That film wrapped on July 30 and opens in March 2028.
Zendaya is quietly putting together one of the more impressive filmographies of her generation. Since breaking out with the ‘Spider-Man’ movies, she’s worked on Luca Guadagninos "Challengers," Denis Villeneuve’s "Dune" movies, and Christopher Nolans "The Odyssey.” Meanwhile, "The Drama" showed she can open an original film, and adding Garland to that list confirms she's choosing auteurs over easy paychecks.
Zendaya is also attached to play the late singer Ronnie Spector in Barry Jenkins' biopic "Be My Baby" for A24, so this is her second A24 film in the pipeline.
As for Garland, back in 2024, he told The Guardian that he wasn’t “planning to direct again in the foreseeable future.” Clearly, that hasn't happened.
In fact, known for his cerebral and visually striking work on “Ex Machina,” “Annihilation,” “Civil War,” and “Warfare,” Garland is busier than ever. On top of that, he is also involved in reviving the “28 Days Later” series with “28 Years Later” and its sequel, ‘The Bone Temple,’ both of which he wrote and produced. He finished the script for the third one which is currently in limbo over at Sony.
Garland started off as a screenwriter, having penned "28 Days Later" and "Sunshine" for Danny Boyle, as well as Mark Romanek's "Never Let Me Go" and "Dredd." The last one comes with a footnote: Pete Travis is the credited director, but Karl Urban and others have since said Garland effectively took over and directed much of the film himself.
Peter Jackson is back. Twelve years after his last narrative feature, he's confirmed his next directing gig, and it's the ‘Tintin’ sequel that everyone had pretty much given up on.