How many other actors have had a long span between winning an Oscar and appearing in their next film? Not many. Renée Zellweger seems to be one of the very few exceptions.
Zellweger won her second Oscar for “Judy” (2019) and then again disappeared from the limelight. She hadn’t starred in any movie until this year’s “Bridget Jones,” which premiered on streaming in the US. Way before “Judy,” Zellweger had won her first Oscar, 15 years earlier, for “Cold Mountain.”
Regardless, six years after her “Judy” win, Zellweger is back and set to star in David Yates’ “Phantom Son,” with Yates directing.
The film, described as a psychological thriller, centers on Ronnie, a young runaway trying to survive on the streets, who is taken in by Audrey (Zellweger), a lonely woman still haunted by the kidnapping of her son two decades earlier. Convinced that Ronnie is her long-lost child, Audrey draws him into a chilling game of cat and mouse, where the boundaries between deception and delusion become dangerously blurred.
Additional casting is underway for a planned Q1 2026 start. As for Yates, do you want to take a look at his filmography? It’s quite something. He’s a filmmaker who has fully staked his creativity on IP content.
As for Zellweger, in addition to her aforementioned Oscar-winning films, her most notable work can also be found in “Jerry Maguire,” “Chicago,” and arguably the best performance of her career, 2000’s “Nurse Betty.” If you haven’t seen that one, seek it out.