Adam Driver & Rihanna to star in Sparks musical

At the helm will be cult French director Leos Carax, who made Holy Motors and Lovers on a Bridge, while art-rockers Sparks write the script and music

Article by The Skinny | 15 Mar 2017

This sounds wonderful. Adam Driver and Rihanna will star in Annette, from French genius Leos Carax. To add to the excitement, the screenplay is by art rock duo Sparks, who’ll also be writing music for the film.

According to Deadline, the musical drama will focus on “a widowed stand-up comedian [played by Driver] and his two-year-old daughter, who has a surprising gift.” Rooney Mara was originally earmarked to co-star, but seems to have dropped out due to other commitments.

The film is being backed by Amazon, whose streaming arm is on something of a roll in terms of film distribution, with recent acquisitions like Manchester by the Sea and The Salesman proving critical hits and each picking up Oscars. Wonderstruck, Todd Haynes’ followup to Carol starring Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams, is also on their books. 

Annette will be the first English-language film from Carax, who’s best known for his bizarro portmanteau film Holy Motors, from 2012, and his extraordinary 1991 drama Lovers on the Bridge. As well as starring Driver and Rihanna, we're told this will be a wide-reaching production spread across a whole host of international locations.

Surprisingly, Sparks' last film score was in 1998 for Jean-Claude Van Damme action flick Knock-Off – 8% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and once described as "incompetent in almost every aspect of filmmaking" – and this is also the first time the pair have had a hand in writing a film script. Rihanna, however, has become an old hand at this acting lark: the pop star's upcoming projects include the all-female Ocean’s 8, Luc Besson's sci-fi Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets and the role of Marion Crane in TV show Bates Motel.

There’s no word yet if Carax regular Denis Lavant will be involved, but our fingers are crossed.

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