Taylor Swift might be selling out stadiums across the United States, but her feature directorial debut is very much coming.
In case you hadn’t heard, Swift is now a legitimate filmmaker. She announced her Searchlight-produced directorial debut with an original script, written by her, in December. How serious is this? Very serious. It’s happening.
Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, who most recently shot “Barbie” and “Killers of the Flower Moon,” worked with Swift on some of her music videos.
Prieto tells TheWrap that he’s been in contact with Swift about her movie, and that she’s an “extraordinary” director. He might even be the DP on it, whenever shooting begins.
I know about this project. I don’t know what the status is right now because I’ve been on my movie, but we have talked about it and I don’t know if I’ll end up doing it or someone else [will], but I think she’s great
Prieto has worked with the likes of Scorsese, Ang Lee, Spike Lee, Almodovar, Iñárritu, but can’t stop praising Swift’s directing abilities:
Obviously she’s quite an artist, but she’s also an excellent director. I must say the stuff I’ve done with her, the music videos, she’s been extraordinary. Someone who didn’t grow up as a director – she’s a musician and a singer and wonderful at that – to see that she understands cinema and understands storytelling, she understands how to tell the story with a camera and she’s great with the technical aspects as well. She’s another person I admire very much, so if I had the opportunity to work with her I’d be thrilled.
The praise seems genuine. Some people probably don’t know this, but Swift has directed 18 music videos so far in her career. Whether that’ll translate into a successful filmmaking career is a whole other story. The part that worries me most is that she wrote the screenplay for this mysterious movie of hers.
Swift is likely to continue touring until, at least, next summer, so production will likely not start before the third quarter of 2024.
Of course, we all know the rule: take these reactions with a grain of salt rather than treating them as gospel. Still, I will say that the film tested like gangbusters earlier this year, and Lionsgate clearly has confidence.