Dee Rees has set her next project.
She will direct the fantasy musical, The Kyd’s Exquisite Follies, which is based upon her original idea and her own script. Rees is coming off of two acclaimed films, the 2015 HBO film, Bessie, which got two Emmy nominations, and Netflix’s Mudbound, which received four Oscar nominations.
Her upcoming film, another awards contender, will be Netflix’s The Last Thing He Wanted, starring Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck, Rosie Perez, Willem Dafoe and Edi Gathegi.
According to Deadline, who first broke the news of The Kyd’s Exquisite Follies, the film is “described as a swirling, futuristic roller-coaster journey of a young musician who catapults herself from the anonymity of her hometown of Same Ol’, Same Ol’ to the bright lights and plastic sights of the fabled It City in search of stardom.” Santigold will compose music for the film.
Rees said, “I was inspired by the AfroPunk and SteamFunk scenes and want to re-imagine the whole Follies genre for today, lift it out of the problematic tropes of the past and invest it with a queer, edgy energy. My favorite musical as a kid growing up was The Wiz, but ironically I generally hated musicals. Which is why I wanted to take this on and write something original — to try and do something unexpected with the form — make a musical for people who hate musicals. It’s gonna be fun It’s been an absolute dream being in the studio with Santigold. She’s an artist I’ve admired and wanted to work with for a long time— she’s such a creative producer and has a vast range of styles and references. She’s a genius and the music we’re making is exciting as hell. People are gonna be surprised. I can’t wait.”
“It is such an honor to be working with Dee on this project,” Santigold said. “She has such a fresh and distinct voice and vision, I am continuously blown away by the breadth of her talent. We’ve been having so much fun weaving the soundscape for this beautiful world she’s dreamed up, and are equally keen to leap recklessly between genres, instruments, and vocal styles. It’s a dream collaboration in that sense. Especially because we have a similar approach to our art; we see the whole thing at once. We know that the music is the dance is the costume is the set. Our intrinsic understanding of that fact is our secret handshake,” said Santigold.
The Last Thing He Wanted is expected to premiere on Netflix later this year. No word on a production timetable for The Kyd’s Exquisite Follies.
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Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty/Netflix
