Hollywood is still in the midst of figuring out exactly how to move forward, with productions trying to be both safe and efficient in their operations, but one movie now exists that's far ahead of the curve. It's titled Malcolm & Marie, it's written and directed by Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, it stars John David Washington and Zendaya, and to the shock of the industry it has already managed to complete production.
Deadline has the details about the movie, reporting that filming began in the middle of last month and work was completed last week. Staying compliant with all of the guidelines from the various unions, Malcolm & Marie was shot in Carmel, California at what is called the Caterpillar House – described as "an environmentally conscious glass architectural marvel."
Zendaya has already shared the first look at the film, posting a still on Twitter of herself and John David Washington in Malcolm & Marie – and you can check it out below:
The origins of the production are pretty cool, with the story beginning when Sam Levinson and Zendaya got the news that production on Season 2 of Euphoria was going to be temporarily shut down. Per the trade, the actress called the showrunner asking if he could write and direct a movie in quarantine conditions, and Levinson wound up "cracking" what turned out to be Malcolm & Marie in just six days.
Over the two weeks that the movie was in production at the Caterpillar House, all kinds of various safety precautions were taken to ensure that everyone involved would be safe. Cast and crew all wore masks and practiced social distancing (though the still suggests rules were a bit different for on-camera material), and no one was allowed to leave the property. Everyone had separate dwellings with individual HVAC units, and ate food in designated areas.
There are some key things that we still don't know about Malcolm & Marie, the key one being the plot of the movie. There is comparison made between the feature and the Oscar-winning Marriage Story from last year, but it's not made clear if the film is actually set during the 2020 pandemic. It's also not known if the black and white image above is a stylized still or if the film isn't in color.
As far as distribution goes, it's also unclear if there already a plan in place to show the movie to audiences, but if there's not, one can surely imagine the project stimulating a bidding war. Needless to say, we'll be keeping a close eye on the development of Malcolm & Marie and will continue to post updates about it here on CinemaBlend.
