The Weeknd‘s Abel Tesfaye will star in his first feature role in the as-yet-untitled film directed by Trey Edward Shults, which the pair co-wrote. Tesfaye is producing the film as well. The movie will also star Jenna Ortega (Wednesday, Scream VI) and Oscar-nominee Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin, The Batman). No plot details have been revealed.
The film will be scored by the Weeknd in tandem with Daniel Lopatin, who records as OPN and Oneohtrix Point Never. Lopatin previously scored the acclaimed films Uncut Gems and Good Time and worked on the Weeknd’s worldwide chart-topping 2022 album Dawn FM.
According to Deadline, Shults and Tesfaye “have been working secretly on the film for months.” Ortega and Keoghan signed on “after being blown away by the script.”
As previously reported, the Weeknd will also star alongside Lily-Rose Depp in the long-in-the-works HBO series The Idol, co-created with Euphoria creator Sam Levinson and slated to premiere sometime this year. Some scenes for the show were filmed last September during the Weeknd’s concerts at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
The Weeknd also contributed a new song, “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength),” to the soundtrack for James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water. Meanwhile, the artist last November extended his After Hours Til Dawn tour with a host of international dates for 2023, beginning June 6 in Lisbon. Shows are lined up through Oct. 15-16 in Santiago.
