Michelle Williams has signed on to star in Damien Chazelle's upcoming untitled film alongside Cillian Murphy and Daniel Craig. The project, reportedly set in a prison, is written and directed by Chazelle, who will produce it with Olivia Hamilton under their Wild Chickens Productions banner. Paramount Pictures will handle distribution, with production set to begin later this year.
Damien Chazelle, the Oscar-winning director behind Whiplash and La La Land, is assembling a star-studded cast for his next untitled drama. Michelle Williams joins Cillian Murphy and Daniel Craig in the film, which insiders describe as being set in a prison, though details remain unconfirmed. Chazelle wrote the script and will direct, marking a pivot from an earlier Evel Knievel biopic that had drawn interest from Leonardo DiCaprio.
This project comes after Chazelle's 2022 film Babylon, an ambitious Hollywood epic that underperformed at the box office. Despite that setback, Chazelle's reputation remains strong, bolstered by his Academy Award for directing La La Land and his work on the space drama First Man. The new film will be produced under Wild Chickens Productions, Chazelle's banner with Olivia Hamilton, and distributed by Paramount Pictures.
Williams, a five-time Oscar nominee, recently won a Golden Globe for her lead role in FX's limited series Dying for Sex, earning an Emmy nomination as well. Her film credits include The Fabelmans, where she portrayed a character inspired by Steven Spielberg's mother and received another Golden Globe nomination; Blue Valentine; Brokeback Mountain; Manchester by the Sea; and My Week With Marilyn. She is currently starring in a stage production of Eugene O'Neill's Anna Christie at St. Ann's Warehouse. Upcoming for Williams is the thriller A Place in Hell, directed by Chloe Domont and co-starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Andrew Scott.
Cillian Murphy, fresh off an Oscar win for Oppenheimer, and Daniel Craig, seen recently in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery and Queer, complete the leading cast. Production is slated to start later in 2026, positioning the film as one of the year's most anticipated releases with Chazelle's signature blend of drama and stellar performances.
