Jenna Ortega has landed her next project…
The 20-year-old Puerto Rican and Mexican American actress will star opposite Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye and Barry Keoghan in Trey Edward Shults’ untitled film.
Plot details are being kept under wraps with the film currently in production.
Shults will direct from a script he co-wrote with Tesfaye and his producing partner Reza Fahim. Tesfaye, Fahim, Kevin Turen and Harrison Kreiss are producing with Shultz and Ortega executive-producing.
Tesfaye has been developing the project for some time and in recent months came to Shults about directing it. Once he was on board, the two along with Fahim began penning the script that they would ultimately get into the hands of Ortega and Keoghan.
Even though both Ortega and Keoghan have been weighing several offers following their big years, both made it clear they wanted this as their next project and following their commitments, the film was a go.
Besides landing Ortega and Keoghan, Shults and Tesfaye also have assembled a below-the-line team that includes director of photography Chayse Irvin. Composer and producer OPN, aka Daniel Lopatin is scoring the film alongside The Weeknd.
Ortega has been on a roll as of late, led by her record-breaking Addams Family Netflix series, Wednesday. The show has smashed Netflix viewing records and has been renewed for a second season. She hosts Saturday Night Live on March 11 and next will be seen in Scream VI.
While this marks Tesfaye’s feature acting debut in a leading role (he did have a small cameo as himself in Uncut Gems), the Grammy-winning and Oscar-nominated musician is set to star in HBO’s The Idol, which he also co-created with Euphoria creator Sam Levinson.