Late last year, Tilda Swinton confirmed she’ll star in Pedro Almodóvar‘s English-language debut “The Room Next Door,” which starts shooting in NYC in March. And now we know who one of her co-stars will be. THR reports that Julianne Moore will star alongside Swinton in the upcoming drama. That’s another formidable lead actress tandem for Moore, who’s fresh off co-starring with Natalie Portman on Todd Haynes‘ “May December.”
READ MORE: Tilda Swinton Confirms Projects Directed By Pedro Almodóvar & Apicahtpong Weeresethakul
Unlike Swinton, who starred in Almodóvar’s 2021 short “The Human Voice,” it’ll be the first time Moore works with the Spanish auteur. “The Room Next Door” will be Almodóvar’s first feature since “Parallel Mothers,” which starred one of his regular collaborators, Penélope Cruz. Almodóvar had another English-language debut in mind before this picture, “A Manual For Cleaning Women,” with Cate Blanchett attached to the star, but he pulled out of that project in 2022.
Moore adds “The Room Next Door” next to Michael Pearce‘s thriller “Echo Valley” for her upcoming projects. Other recent work for the actress besides “May December” includes “Sharper” for Apple TV+. As for Swinton, she’s fresh off a banner 2023 with turns in David Fincher‘s “The Killer,” Wes Anderson‘s “Asteroid City,” and the A24 comedy “Problemista!,” which finally hits theaters post-guild strikes on March 1, 2024. And along with Almodóvar, Swinton works with two other auteurs soon: Apichatpong Weeresethakul‘s next film and Joshua Oppenheimer‘s “The End,” both in post-production now.
As for Almodóvar, he had his short “Strange Way Of Life,” a gay Western with Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last year. The director affirmed that his recent spate of shorts was prep for him to get comfortable directing actors in English, a build-up to “The Room Next Door.” If Almodóvar indeed starts shooting his next film in March, then “The Room Next Door” could see an awards season release at the end of this year. Here’s the first BTS look of the film.
