Ethan Coen Plots Solo Directorial Debut, Casts Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan
Following Joel Coen’s solo directorial effort, The Tragedy of Macbeth, it looks like the other half of the Coen Brothers, Ethan Coen, is going rogue as well.
Deadline has learned that Ethan Coen is setting up a new project with Working Title and Focus, which he co-wrote with his wife, Tricia Cooke. While plot details are strictly under wraps, the movie has cast Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan in the two lead roles. Coen and Cooke are also producers on the untitled project, with Robert Graf and Working Title’s Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner.
According to the story, the project has been one of the most attractive ones in town for up-and-coming actresses looking to make a name for themselves. After a shortlist was put together, the actresses were paired with each other for chemistry tests until the producers and the casting director landed on Qualley and Viswanathan.
Qualley had a scene-stealing part in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood… as the character “Pussycat”, one of Charles Manson’s followers who fell for Brad Pitt. She is also in the upcoming Poor Things, from Yorgos Lanthimos, with Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, and Willem Dafoe (that movie has been pushed back to 2023), and has earned two Emmy nominations, as Lead Actress in a Limited Series (Netflix’s Maid) and as Supporting Actress in a Limited Series (FX’s Fosse/Verdon). The winner of the former will be announced this September.
Viswanathan, on her end, has appeared in 2018’s Blockers and Bad Education. She will next be seen in the Apple pic The Beanie Bubble.
Shooting is scheduled to begin this fall, so a late 2023 release is more than plausible.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
