Sumith Prasad
Celine Song’s next film ‘The Materialists’ has begun shooting in New York, the principal location of the director’s debut feature film ‘Past Lives.’ Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans will feature in the movie. The plot revolves around a professional matchmaker who gets involved in a love triangle that also includes a wealthy man and a broke actor-waiter she has feelings for despite her separation from him.
Song began her career as a playwright, especially after receiving an MFA degree in playwriting from Columbia University in 2014. Her play ‘Endlings,’ after the premiere at the American Repertory Theater, opened its off-Broadway run at New York Theatre Workshop in March 2020. In November 2020, the playwright directed a live production of Anton Chekhov’s globally renowned play ‘The Seagull,’ titled ‘The Seagull on The Sims 4,’ using The Sims 4 on Twitch for the New York Theatre Workshop. Song entered into the world of television with Amazon Prime Video’s fantasy series ‘The Wheel of Time’ as a staff writer.
‘Past Lives’ is regarded as one of the best films released in 2023. After its premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, the movie was screened at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, where it competed for the top prize, Golden Bear. The romantic drama holds a Metascore of 94, making it one of the most critically acclaimed films of the last year. Considering the expectations, the film also performed well at the box office.
Johnson headlined the cast of Sony Pictures’ ‘Madame Web.’ She portrayed Girlie in ‘Daddio,’ opposite Sean Penn. Her recent credits include Anne Elliot in Netflix’s romantic drama ‘Persuasion‘ and Domino in ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth.’ Pascal is currently filming Ari Aster’s ‘Eddington,’ also starring Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone. He will feature in the upcoming second season of HBO’s post-apocalyptic drama ‘The Last of Us‘ and Ridley Scott’s ‘Gladiator 2.’ Evans lent his voice to Lucas Lee in ‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ and portrayed Pete Brenner in ‘Pain Hustlers‘ and Cole Turner in ‘Ghosted.’
The film has been in development at Killer Films (‘Carol’ and ‘Far from Heaven’), 2AM (‘Bodies Bodies Bodies’), and A24 (‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ and ‘Moonlight’). The three companies previously teamed up for ‘Past Lives’ as well.
The filming location of ‘The Materialists’ suggests that the movie will likely be another love letter to New York City, where the director resides with her husband Justin Kuritzkes, a playwright and novelist. Song had been extremely vocal about her love for NYC as a filming location after shooting ‘Past Lives’ in the city. “I told this joke a couple of times, but the joke is that I had two divas on set, and they were none of the actors; it was New York City and my 35mm film camera,” the director told Collider. “I feel like shooting in New York is worth it at the end of the day,” she added.
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