Green Knight Director Continues To Surprise, Lines Up Pop Musical Drama Mother Mary

If I were a decade and a half younger, I'd probably say something along the lines of filmmaker David Lowery having all hits and absolutely no misses throughout his brilliant directing career to this point. But because I'm not and my job ostensibly requires that I find a semi-intelligent way of stringing words together to make insightful points, I'll just point out that between 2016's "Pete's Dragon" (one of the only worthwhile live-action Disney remakes, if you ask me), the soulful and meditative "A Ghost Story," the tragically underseen "The Old Man & the Gun," and especially 2021's Dev Patel-starring adaptation of "The Green Knight," Lowery has rapidly curated one of the most surprising and sneakily interesting filmographies out there. (We even have hope for his next film, the upcoming remake "Peter Pan and Wendy.")

Today, we're getting word of his next move and, well, this has the makings of becoming another must-watch, too.

Deadline has the news that Lowery has set up his next production, titled "Mother Mary." Once again teaming up with studio A24, Lowery will direct from a script that he wrote himself and the logline alone has our full attention. According to the report, the movie will be "...an epic pop melodrama following a fictional musician and her relationship with an iconic fashion designer." If that doesn't catch your eye, then the cast sure will. Lowery has recruited Anne Hathaway to portray that musician, along with Michaela Coel as the fashion designer.

Oh, and if that somehow wasn't enough either? How about the fact that singer/songwriters Jack Antonoff and Charli XCX — yes, you read that right — have been chosen to pen multiple original songs for the picture.

A(nother) star is born

I don't know about you, but I for one am excited to see Anne Hathaway team up with yet another acclaimed, visionary filmmaker — especially after recent turns in James Gray's "Armageddon Time," Todd Haynes' "Dark Waters," and William Oldroyd's upcoming "Eileen" (which /Film's Ben Pearson reviewed here). Though details remain light on story specifics for "Mother Mary," it's a safe bet that David Lowery will give Hathaway some material to really sink her teeth into. Let's not forget Michaela Coel, however, who's appeared in two episodes of "Black Mirror," "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" (in which she stole every one of her scenes as Aneka, a member of Wakanda's Dora Milaje), and especially the HBO series "I May Destroy You," earning an Emmy for her writing.

For Lowery, this marks a return to the non-franchise offerings that he's proven most effective in — particularly under indie studio A24. The jury's still out on whether he'll be able to make his remake magic strike twice with "Peter Pan and Wendy" for Disney, of course, but there's certainly something to be said for filmmakers who are able to tow both lines of the studio world. As long as Lowery continues to get his original ideas and passion projects financed in between his franchise vehicles, we have absolutely nothing to complain about.

No release date for "Mother Mary" has yet been revealed, but we'll be sure to follow along as more details on this project are revealed.