coming soon

Selena Gomez to Return to Her Musical Roots for Jacques Audiard’s Upcoming Film

Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldaña. Photo-Illustration: Vulture. Photos: Getty Images

Selena Gomez is taking a pause from true-crime podcasts and friend dates with certain a Chainsmokers member to film Jacques Audiard’s new musical, Emilia Perez. She, Avatar’s Zoe Saldaña, and Spanish actress Karla Sofia Gascón lead the cast of the Oscar-nominated French director’s upcoming musical crime comedy, which is slated to begin production this spring in a studio near Paris, per Variety. The idea for the movie first came to Audiard more than two years ago as “an opera libretto in four acts,” he told Variety, eventually morphing into a feature film. It follows a Mexican cartel leader (Gascón) who has surgery to both escape the law and affirm her gender. “It was the first time that an idea [for a film] came to me under this shape, and that might explain why I will direct the movie in a studio,” Audiard said. “It’s like a return to a primary intuition.” The Sisters Brothers director added that the studio will allow him to “produce more form” and give him “more freedom for the parts that are sung and choreographed,” perhaps teasing strong visuals in the works. Emilia Perez brings together composer Clement Ducol, singer Camille, and choreographer Damien Jalet to serve as the musical’s creative team, missing the opportunity to reunite the team that produced Gomez’s most imaginative choreo in her impressive career — the dance-studio scene from Another Cinderella Story.

Selena Gomez Returns to Her Musical Roots for Emilia Perez