Kelvin Harrison Jr. is set to star in the Universal feature.
Kelvin Harrison Jr. is set to star in the Universal feature.
Halle Bailey is following up her turns in movie musicals The Little Mermaid and The Color Purple with another feature in the genre. She has signed on to join the cast of the Universal musical from Michel Gondry and superstar Pharrell Williams.
Bailey will join Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Kelvin Harrison Jr. in the coming-of-age period feature.
The project, which will be directed by Gondry, is set in the summer of 1977 at Virginia Beach and is inspired by Atlantis Apartments, Williams’ childhood neighborhood. Martin Hynes (Toy Story 4) and Steven Levenson (Tick, Tick…Boom!) are penning the screenplay.
Williams and Mimi Valdés will produce through their I Am Other banner, along with Gil Netter via Gil Netter Productions. Universal’s Ryan Jones and Christine Sun will oversee the project for the studio.
Bailey, repped by CAA, was last seen in Color Purple, which was released at the end of 2023. Outside of her onscreen career, Bailey is best known as one half of her sister music due Chloe & Halle, as well as her solo artist efforts, all of which have netted her multiple Grammy nominations.
The Universal musical comes at a time when movie musical are seeing more of an upswing after years of disappointing returns. The Mean Girls musical pulled in $104 million globally after it was originally slated for a streaming release. The Timothée Chalamet starring Wonka has earned over $600 million at the global box office against a budget of $125 million.