The Weeknd is stretching his creative muscles. The Toronto singer has not only secured his first-ever lead role in a feature film but he also wrote and produced it. It hasn’t been titled yet, but it already has an award-winning pedigree; director Trey Edward Shults (best known for It Comes At Night and Waves) is signed on as director, co-producer, and co-writer, while Barry Keoghan (from Eternals and The Banshees Of Inisherin) and Jenna Ortega (Scream, Wednesday, X) are billed as The Weeknd’s co-stars. The score is being composed by The Weeknd and Oneohtrix Point Never, who produced the singer’s last album, Dawn FM, as well as scoring Uncut Gems, in which The Weeknd appeared as himself.
The Weeknd is also due to show off his acting chops in the HBO series The Idol, which was co-created by The Weeknd, Reza Fahim, and Euphoria creator Sam Levinson and is set to air later this year. The show was recently re-tooled to embrace a “new creative direction,” which just might give the rookie producer some valuable experience that could serve him well as he takes the reins of his first feature film, which is currently shooting in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, The Weeknd’s music career continues to flourish; he recently released an Ariana Grande-featuring remix of his 2016 hit “Die For You” after TikTok resurrected and launched it into the Hot 100 top ten and his Live From SoFi Stadium special is now streaming on HBO Max.