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Question: What does Dakota Johnson have in common with pop superstar Charli XCX, Sin City's Jessica Alba, and her Cha Cha Real Smooth breakout co-star Vanessa Burghardt? Answer: As a certain Johnson played super heroine found once before, her web connects them all. Well, less a web, more a buzzy feature directorial debut. Yes, per Deadline's reporting, Johnson is following up her star turn in Celine Song's Materialists with a spin in the director's seat on original new drama A Tree Is Blue.
Written by Burghardt, who is on the autistic spectrum, A Tree Is Blue is described by Deadline (via World Of Reel) as following the story "of a young woman on the autism spectrum who breaks free from her overprotective but loving mother in search of freedom, friendship, and a little chaos in the summer after high school graduation." Whether or not Burghardt herself will be playing the lead in the movie is unknown at this point — and it's worth clarifying that thus far, all three of Burghardt, Charli XCX, and Alba are in active talks to star, but no ink has dried on any deals just yet.
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While the headline here is indubitably Johnson graduating from directing TIFF darling short Loser Baby to making a fully fledged feature of her own, the presence of Charli XCX's name around the project is also a major selling point as the Brat singer continues to stack her burgeoning CV. For those keeping track, the multi-hyphenate star's pipeline also includes Julia Jackman period fantasy 100 Nights Of Hero, Cathy Yan's The Gallerist, Gregg Araki's I Want Your Sex, Pete Ohs' Erupjca, Romain Gavrais' Sacrifice, Daniel Goldhaber’s Faces Of Death, and — *gasp* — her own co-written A24 joint The Moment.
Due to shoot in LA this November, we'd expect to see A Tree Is Blue hit the festival circuit — and maybe even sneak into cinemas — by the end of next year. Here's hoping Johnson's first feature, should it prove to be one of Charli XCX's many upcoming movies, turns out to be one of the good ones and doesn't leave us saying, "girl, so confusing." (IYKYK.)