Jesse Eisenberg is poised to write and direct a yet-untitled musical comedy for Topic Studios and Fruit Tree, which recently released his acclaimed Sundance film A Real Pain. Eisenberg will also compose original music for the upcoming production.

Deadline reported that Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti have been tapped to appear in the new film, which is set to begin shooting in 2025. Moore, who had starred in Eisenberg’s prentice feature, When You Finish Saving the World, will play the role of a painfully shy woman who comes out of her shell in a community theater production. Giamatti will play the role of the director who gives her this new confidence.

In hie sophomore feature, A Real Pain, which had its theatrical debut in 2024, Eisenberg played the role of a man named David, who accompanied his cousin Banji on a trek through Poland to honor the memory of their late grandmother. That film won Eisenberg the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance.

 

Discussing A Real Pain on the “Filmmaker Toolkit” podcast at IndieWire, Eisenberg said, “So with this movie, I really was just trying to make sure we know who these people are, in a kind of familiar way, in a way that’s accessible, and making sure we know that even during their moments of bad behavior, they’re feeling something.”

The 41-year-old Eisenberg established himself as a filmmaker after an acting career, in which he won an Oscar nomination for playing Mark Zuckerberg in David Fincher’s The Social Network. He also appeared in Sasquatch Sunset by the Zellner Brothers, and will star in Lionsgate’s upcoming Now You See Me 3.

Giamatti, who has won two Oscar nominations, appeared in The Holdovers and Billions, and will be seen in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and Downton Abbey 3, as well as Eli Roth’s television series Hostel.

Check out more stories by Edward Moran.