Janelle Monáe Joins Cast of Upcoming Musical Film From Pharrell Williams and Michel Gondry

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Grammy-Award-nominated singer and actress Janelle Monáe is the latest high-profile artist to join the upcoming musical film from Pharrell Williams and Michel Gondry.

Monáe joins the previously announced Missy Elliott, Brian Tyree Henry, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Halle Bailey, and recent Oscar-winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph. 

Monáe's screen credits include Moonlight, Hidden Figures, and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery where she portrayed twins Cassandra and Helen Brand. For her music, she has been nominated for 10 Grammy Awards, most recently for her acclaimed 2023 album The Age of Pleasure.

Few plot details about the upcoming film have been released, apart from its setting. It is reported to be set in Virginia Beach during the summer of 1977 at an apartment complex inspired by the place where Williams grew up. It will be made by Universal.

Gondry, director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and more recently, Showtime's Kidding, will direct the project from a script by Steven Levenson and Martin Hynes. Levenson has significant musical experience, having penned the script for Dear Evan Hansen and the film version of Tick, Tick... Boom!