Paul Dano Shooting Pablo Larraín’s 1973 Chile Coup Drama ‘Once’ With Rodrigo Prieto as DP

UPDATE: According to La Tercera's Culto, Paul Dano is in this film, and he travelled to Chile to join a mostly local cast. He was photographed walking in central Santiago, in the Plaza de la Constitución next to La Moneda palace.

Behind the camera, Larraín is working with cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (The Irishman, Killers of the Flower Moon) and VFX supervisor Andrew Jackson, a regular Christopher Nolan collaborator. Guy Hendrix Dyas, who designed “Spencer,” is the production designer.

EARLIER: Pablo Larraín is set to begin production on his next feature for Netflix titled “Once” (referencing the number 11).

The film is structured as 11 interconnected stories unfolding in the immediate aftermath of Chile’s military coup on September 11, 1973. Across a tightly compressed 18-hour window, as Chile entered a period of military dictatorship, the narrative will tackle the chaos and human consequences following the overthrow of the democratic government, culminating in the bombing of La Moneda Palace and the death of then-president Salvador Allende.

The cast will be led by Alfredo Castro, a regular on Larraín’s films. The rest of the players include Marcelo Alonso, Octavia Bernasconi, Roberto Farías, Fernanda Finsterbusch, Alejandro Goic, Camila Milenka, Valentina Muhr, Marcial Tagle, and Lukas Vergara.

A key creative of the project is Larraín’s collaboration with Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, marking their first time working together. Prieto has been Scorsese’s go-to DP since “The Wolf of Wall Street,” followed by “Silence,” “The Irishman,” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.”

Larraín has been a mainstay at the Venice Film Festival, with his last five films part of the official competition. This will be Larraín’s second film with Netflix; he previously directed the neo-vampire film “El Conde.”

Starting with “No,” Larraín built a reputation for stylized, psychologically driven films about power and historical memory, continuing through works like “The Club” and “Neruda.” He later expanded with a trilogy of intimate portraits of iconic women, especially with “Jackie,” which is—arguably—his best film. I didn’t care much for “Spencer” or his most recent film “Maria,” which continued his focus on fractured identity and public myth.

“Once,” which Larraín describes as a “war movie,” is slated to begin shooting in the second half of 2026.