After earning wondrous acclaim for her directorial debut, Past Lives, Celine Song is getting all kinds of buzz again for her next project, Materialists. Reportedly, this upcoming A24 movie is going to be another romance in which the protagonist becomes wrapped up in a love triangle between someone new and someone from her past.
However, we can assure you that the filmmaker is still going in a new direction with her sophomore effort. See why in our following guide to everything you need to know so far about Materialists.
What Is The Materialists Release Date?
As of September 2024, no official release date has been announced for Materialists. The film might not show up on our upcoming 2024 movie schedule, but based on what we know about its production status (more on that later), a spot among the upcoming 2025 movies is likely.
The Materialists Cast Includes Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, And Pedro Pascal
A report by Deadline indicated that the Materialists cast would boast an A-list ensemble. Let’s take a look at the exciting names starring in the film (whose roles are currently undisclosed) and what other notable acting credits they are known for below.
Dakota Johnson
Already no stranger to stories involving complicated romance is Dakota Johnson, who skyrocketed to the A-list when she starred in the Fifty Shades of Grey movies as Anastasia Steele, before later leading a rom-com called How to Be Single and Netflix’s period drama, Persuasion. She made her acting debut alongside her mother, Melanie Griffith, in 1999’s Crazy in Alabama, before appearing in 2010’s The Social Network, 2012’s 21 Jump Street, and Need for Speed from 2013. More recently, Johnson starred in the dramedy, Cha Cha Real Smooth, for Apple TV+ and in the Madame Web cast as the title hero.
Pedro Pascal
Pedro Pascal has done a few romances (including one of the best Westerns on Netflix, Strange Way of Life) and a number of comedies (such as The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent), but Materialists is his first combination of the two. The actor (who lends his voice to the 2024 sci-fi animated movie The Wild Robot) is better known for action-packed big screen fare (having starred in comic book movies like Kingsman: The Golden Circle and Wonder Woman 1984) and small screen hits (having led the hit Star Wars TV show spin-off, The Mandalorian in the title role and HBO’s The Last of Us cast). In addition to being cast in Ari Aster’s Eddington, his career’s blockbuster era is far from over, as he will finally join the MCU in the new Fantastic Four movie as Reed Richards.
Chris Evans
The Materialists cast also includes a veteran of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (as Captain America) and a star of two previous Fantastic Four movies (as Human Torch): Chris Evans. Like Pascal, the actor actually has even more comic book roles under his belt, namely Jensen in 2010’s underrated DC flick, The Losers, and Lucas Lee from the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World cast — the latter of which also counts as one of his many rom-coms. The Pain Hustlers cast member also has an upcoming Dwayne Johnson movie coming out in 2024 called Red One.
Zoë Winters
Also appearing in the Materialists cast in an undisclosed role is Zoë Winters, who is best known for her recurring role in the Succession cast as Logan Roy’s secretary, Kerry Castellabate. Since 2007, she has made guest appearances of various sizes on shows like Gossip Girl, Elementary, Madam Secretary, and Hunters. Winters also had a stint on Showtime’s Flatbush Misdemeanors, made her feature film debut in the 2023 sci-fi movie Jules, and appeared in a thriller called Cold Wallet the following year.
Dasha Nekrasova
Also known for a recurring role on Succession is Dasha Nekrasova, who made her feature debut leading the 2018 indie rom-com Wobble Place. That same year, the Minsk-born actor led another comedy called Softness of Bodies and went on to make guest appearances on shows like Mr. Robot and Dickinson. More recently, Nekrasova lent her voice to Max’s animated series, Fired on Mars, starred in her debut as a writer and director, The Scary of Sixty-First (which is available with a Shudder subscription), and starred in films like the horror-comedy movie Bad Behaviour and the dystopian drama, The Beast, in 2023.
Louisa Jacobson
Louisa Jacobson, whose mother is three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep, made her acting debut in 2019 with a TV movie called Gone Hollywood before starring in HBO’s The Gilded Age cast as Marian Brook. Materialists will mark her major motion picture debut.
Marin Ireland
Marin Ireland boasts a filmography of esteemed cinema and television favorites. Her notable film credits include 2008’s Rachel Getting Married, Oscar-nominated neo-Western Hell or High Water, Martin Scorsese’s Netflix original crime drama The Irishman, and the recent underrated horror movie, The Empty Man from 2020. You may have also recognized her from TV shows like Showtime’s Homeland, Amazon Prime’s Sneaky Pete, Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy, and FX’s Justified: City Primeval, to name a few.
What Materialists Is About
What we do know from a Variety article from early February 2024 is that Materialists has been described as a romantic comedy following a professional matchmaker from New York City who finds a match for herself in a rich man. However, as another detail provided by the aforementioned Deadline article reveals, the protagonist finds herself torn between her new beau and her feelings for someone from her past: an aspiring actor struggling to make ends meet as a restaurant server.
For anyone who has seen Past Lives, which we called one of the best movies of 2023, it is easy to understand why Materialists might get compared to the 2024 Academy Award nominee. The acclaimed A24 movie follows a woman from South Korea (played by Greta Lee) living happily in New York City with her American husband (played by John Magaro) when she receives a chance to reconnect with her childhood friend (played by Teo Yoo), uncovering long dormant feelings and thoughts of what their lives could have been had they not parted before. It should likely be easy to differentiate the two once Materialists is released, however, since it reportedly takes a more comedic approach to the love triangle theme.
Celine Song Wrote And Directed Materialists
Materialists will be Celine Song’s second feature-length effort as a writer and director, but her first as producer. As established, she made her feature-length debut as both with Past Lives, which she revealed to ABC News was actually inspired by a true experience in her own life.
Before becoming a filmmaker — an achievement met with various accolades, including Best Feature at the Gotham Awards and Best Director at the Independent Spirit Awards — the Korean-Canadian artist broke into show business as a playwright, penning two stage shows called Endlings and The Seagull on The Sims 4, which both showed at New York Theatre Workshop in 2020. The following year, she became a staff writer for one of the best fantasy shows to stream, Amazon Prime’s The Wheel of Time.
Materialists Wrapped Shooting In Summer 2024
Despite lacking an official release date for now, according to an Instagram post by Pascal, Materialists has completed principal photography as of June 2024. The shoot took place in New York City and lasted for five weeks.
Materialists Will Be Distributed In The U.S. By A24 And Internationally By Sony
As previously established, Materialists is under the A24 umbrella, but specifically in the U.S. Another Variety report from February states that Sony Pictures will be handling distribution for the film in the overseas market.
Following her remarkable debut, Celine Song is now one of the most buzzed about filmmakers in the business. Thus, Materialists is one of the most buzzed about projects in the pipeline.
