Frank Ocean – real name: Christopher Edwin Breaux – may soon be crossing over to a different artistic medium as sources indicate the singer/songwriter is in discussion to write + direct his own feature-length film with indie darling A24 and another production compared named 2AM.
The news was broken in an exclusive report published by Discussing Film, and while further details are virtually non-existent at this stage, the mere prospect of this collaboration alone is cause for celebration.
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In Frank Ocean, you have a once-in-a-generation artist whose lyrics are poetry and visual essence is incredibly distinct; having previously directed the accompanying visuals of his 2016 album Endless. In A24, you have an operation that has the cunning, cajones, and daring to take a chance on something unique — with the proven results to justify its “gambles”:
- Denis Villeneuve’s Enemy starring Jake Gyllenhaal
- Steven Knight’s Locke starring Tom Hardy
- Alex Garland’s Ex Machina starring Oscar Isaac, Domhall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander
- Robert Eggers’s The Witch starring Florence Pugh; and The Lighthouse starring Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe
- Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight starring Trevante Rhodes, Janelle Monae, Mahershala Ali
- Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster starring Colin Farrell
- The Safdie Brothers’ Good Time starring Robert Pattinson; and Uncut Gems starring Adam Sandler
- Ari Aster’s Hereditary starring Toni Collette; and Midsommar starring Florence Pugh
- Jonah Hill’s Mid90s starring Sunny Suljic, Lucas Hedges, Katherine Waterston
- Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari starring Steven Yuen, Han Ye-ri, Alan Kim, Noel Kate Cho, Youn Yuh-jung
- David Lowery’s The Green Kight starring Deve Patel
- Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth starring Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand
- Kogonada’s After Yang starring Collin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Justin H. Min, Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja
- The Daniels’ Everything Everywhere All At Once starring Michelle Yeoh (the highest-grossing A24 film of all time)
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This wouldn’t exactly be the sole occasion Frank Ocean has crossed paths with A24, either. In addition to writing the foreword to a published version of Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight, the crooner behind Blonde has also licensed his music to a number of A24 movies in the past, most notably lending ‘Godspeed’ and ‘Seigfried’ to Waves directed by Trey Edward Shults.
Nor would this be A24’s first time enlisting the talents of a major music star, given the ongoing production deal with Cactus Jack – the company established by rapper Travis Scott – to churn out a series of films, including one that shares a name with the upcoming album Utopia.
“It was also reported in 2020 that Ocean had been working on a “secret” project with Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino,” writes Matthew Neal of NME.
“No further details about the potential plot, cast, or release date of Frank Ocean’s potential A24 film have been confirmed yet.”
… anything to avoid giving us new music, eh?
