When you think of celebrities whom you would consider the hardest workers in Hollywood, I can think of many a good reason why Jessica Chastain deserves a high-ranking spot on that list. She has only been a working actor since 2004 and has since acquired more than 50 credits (just for acting alone) - among them Interstellar, It: Chapter Two, Take Shelter, and Zero Dark Thirty. That last title would also earn her a second Academy Award nomination and her first Golden Globe win, but I have no doubt there are more to come in her future.
On that note, the acclaimed, 43-year-old Sacramento native’s odds of further awards attention might be better than most, and I do not just base that claim on the exceptional talent she has bore in films like The Help (which earned her her first Oscar nod), Lawless, or The Martian. I also base that claim on the mere quantity of Jessica Chastain’s schedule, which is pretty stacked with upcoming projects for both the big screen and small screen alike. This really is nothing too surprising from someone who starred in five major motion pictures all released in 2011 and came astonishingly close to matching that record in the years since.
Ironically, there was was only one film of hers, called Ava, that saw a theatrical release in 2020, but the previous year has been a different sort of beast, of course, thanks to the outbreak of Covid-19. On the bright side, the next few years of Jessica Chastain’s career look especially quite plentiful, based on the following projects that she has in store. If that does not impress you enough, this list just includes the on-camera roles she has in the works, even though she is serving as a producer on many of them - including this particular upcoming biopic from one of the most accomplished comedy filmmakers of his time.
The Eyes Of Tammy Faye (September 24, 2021)
Michael Showalter, director of The Lovebirds and the Oscar-nominated The Big Sick, helms this drama based on the life of Tammy Faye Bakker, who was just as famous in the 1970s and the 1980s for her televangelism as she was for her indelible eyelashes. Jessica Chastain will play the titular, groundbreaking, and infamously scandalous figure (also well-known for her surprising support of LGBT rights), along with Andrew Garfield as her husband Jim Bakker and Vincent D’Onofrio as rival televangelist Jerry Falwell, in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, which is set for release September 24, 2021.
Scenes From A Marriage (2021)
Also scheduled to begin airing at some unspecified time in 2021 on HBO is this miniseries written and directed by The Affair creator Hagai Levi. The project is an English-language update of Ingmar Bergman’s six-part chronicle of a middle-aged Swedish couple’s romantic struggles from 1973, which was edited into a feature-length film the following year. Now in pre-production, Scenes from a Marriage will reunite star and executive producer Jessica Chastain (in a lead role originally cast with Oscar winner Michelle Williams) and her A Most Violent Year co-star Oscar Isaac, but it will not be the Golden Globe winners’ only reunion on this list.
The 355 (January 14, 2022)
Jessica Chastain also reunites with Simon Kinberg, writer and director of X-Men: Dark Phoenix, for this international espionage thriller. She plays a CIA agent who joins forces with a rival German spy (Diane Kruger), a former M16 ally (Lupita Nyong’o), and Columbian psychologist (Penelope Cruz) against a mysterious Chinese woman (Bingbing Fan). The 355 was originally intended for a 2020 theatrical release, but was then postponed for a January 2021 premiere on Netflix, until it was pushed back again an entire year and will now debut on the streaming platform January 14, 2022.
The Forgiven (Post-Production)
Based on the 2012 novel by Lawrence Osborne, The Forgiven tells the story of the consequences that a couple from the UK faces after making a tragic mistake en route to visit old friends at a dinner party in the Moroccan desert. John Michael McDonough, brother of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri helmer Martin McDonough, writes and directs this psychological thriller which stars Ralph Fiennes, Jessica Chastain, and Lovecraft Country star Abbey Lee, among others, and is currently in post-production.
The Good Nurse (Pre-Production)
Now in the pre-production stages is yet another thriller starring Jessica Chastain that also takes inspiration from a book. In this case, that book is true crime author Charles Graeber’s retelling of the life of Charlie Cullen - a former registered nurse later nicknamed “The Angel of Death” for his implications in the deaths of at least 300 patients. Cullen, one of the most prolific serial killers in American history, will be played by Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne, who most recently played a historical figure in Aaron Sorkin’s Netflix exclusive film The Trial of the Chicago 7.
The Division (Pre-Production)
Jessica Chastain will both star in and produce this action thriller about a deadly virus that breaks out on Black Friday, causing the inevitable collapse of the United States within days. Despite its frighteningly relevant subject matter, The Division (which also stars Jake Gyllenhaal and is helmed by stunt coordinator turned master action filmmaker David Leitch) is actually based on a 2016 video game of the same name. The story also came from the mind of late author Tom Clancy, who based the story off of a bio-terrorist attack simulation conducted in Oklahoma City in 2001.
Losing Clementine (Pre-Production)
Another film that is currently in pre-production and has Jessica Chastain on double duty as star and producer is this fascinating drama. Adapted from the novel by Ashley Ream and directed by acclaimed Argentine director Lucía Puenzo, Losing Clementine depicts an emotionally tortured artist’s journey to make all ends meet in her life before the precise date she has chosen to end it. Chastain plays the titular lead alongside Edgar Ramirez, whom she previously shared the screen with in Zero Dark Thirty and The 355.
George And Tammy (Pre-Production)
Jessica Chastain has another big TV project in the works that is not only another big pop culture biopic, but will also be her second time playing a famous woman named Tammy. In this case, it is Tammy Wynette - a country singing icon also famous for her romance with fellow music legend George Jones in the 1960s and ‘70s. George and Tammy (which will be available on Spectrum Originals, Paramount Network, and ViacomCBS’ upcoming streaming platform) will be executive produced by Josh Brolin and is the second collaboration between Chastain and The Eyes of Tammy Faye scribe Abe Sylvia, who created the series.
Mothers’ Instinct (Announced)
Also set in the 1960s is this psychological thriller about a pair of adult best friends and next door neighbors whose idyllic, suburban lifestyles are upended and their friendship ruined by a tragic accident that sparks a vicious game of paranoia. Award-winning French filmmaker is set to direct Mothers’ Instinct (an English-language update of his 2018 film Duelles, itself an adaptation of Barbara Abel’s novel), which will star Jessica Chastain and The Witches’ Anne Hathaway as the close housewives at the center of the drama.
Untitled Holiday Comedy Project (Announced)
Of course, not all of Jessica Chastain’s biggest projects in development are all doom and gloom, such as this currently untitled comedy set during the holiday season. The film sounds a bit like a gender-flipped remake of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, but instead of Thanksgiving, the holiday our protagonists are committed to making it home for on time is Christmas. According to the most recent reports on the project by Variety, Chastain is also producing the movie, which will reunite her with Octavia Spencer (her Oscar-winning co-star from 2011’s The Help) and The Eyes of Tammy Faye helmer Michael Showalter, who is said to be directing the picture.
Untitled A Most Violent Year Sequel (Rumored)
Speaking of reunions, I mentioned that we would see yet another collaboration between Jessica Chastain and her A Most Violent Year co-star Oscar Isaac on this list and that project is announced sequel to said film. The 2015 drama from writer and director J.C. Chandor follows the struggles of an immigrant and self-made entrepreneur (Isaac) to hold his business together and his family above water during New York City’s historically violent winter of 1981. Chastain hinted at the follow-up in a tweet from January 1, 2020, which is all the evidence we have so far of the project, but she does seem quite insistent on the possibility.
What do you think? Are you excited at the potential to see more of Jessica Chastain in her Golden Globe-nominated role of Anna Morales, or do you think that her and Oscar Isaac playing a dysfunctional couple in HBO’s Scenes from a Marriage remake will actually serve as an efficient follow-up to A Most Violent Year already? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back for additional information and updates on the talented actresses, as well as even more insight into the forthcoming projects from your favorite celebrities, here on CinemaBlend.
