Back in February, a report had Saoirse Ronan and Austin Butler starring in Sean Durkin’s “Deep Cuts,” with A24 producing. It turns out both stars have dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. They have been replaced by Cailee Spaeny and Drew Starkey.
The project, set to start production in February 2026, is an adaptation of Holly Brickley’s debut novel, which was released in bookstores earlier this year. Durkin is writing the screenplay.
Set in the 2000s, Deep Cuts is a love story about two music-obsessed twenty-somethings navigating the messy realities of ambition, belonging, and adulthood over the course of an era-defining decade.
Butler has too many projects in development, with several aiming to shoot next year, including “Miami Vice,” “Heat 2,” “The Barrier,” “American Speed,” and “City on Fire.” Meanwhile, Ronan has all of 2026 booked for the Sam Mendes-directed Beatles movies.
That’s all fine and dandy. I’m a big fan of Spaeny, and she’s definitely a rising star, having proved her chops most recently in “Civil War,” “Priscilla,” and “Alien: Romulus.” Starkey is coming off “Queer” and recently shot Adam Wingard’s “Onslaught.”
Durkin has so far directed three strong films: “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” “The Nest,” and “The Iron Claw” — the latter was produced by A24 and, backed by strong reviews, became a sleeper hit in late 2023.
Here’s hoping Durkin continues his winning streak with this next one. As far as I’m concerned, he’s 3 for 3.