One of the most exciting projects announced at Cannes, Jenna Ortega has been cast in the lead role in visionary French author Leos Carax’s highly anticipated next film, Lily Mae B.
Scheduled to begin filming in spring 2027, Lily Mae B is the sequel to Annette, the bold musical romance starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard that opened at Cannes in 2021 and won the Best Director award.
Carax’s seventh feature film, “Lily Mae B,” marks his first collaboration with Ortega, one of Hollywood’s rising young stars who made his breakthrough with “Wednesday” and Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice.” Ortega also led the success of the “Scream” series and has increasingly taken an interest in the arthouse world in recent roles, including starring opposite Natalie Portman in this year’s Sundance appearance “The Gallerist.”
The project is the brainchild of one of France’s top producers, Hugo Serignac of Si Fu Mi Productions. Media One is the standard-bearer and has a total of five films submitted to Cannes, including Jeanne Herry’s Palme d’Or nominee Garance and Quentin Dupieux’s Full Fill. Check out exclusive concept art for the project below.
“Once upon a time, there was a little girl, a young woman, and a boy. Each of them had a secret too heavy to bear. They met in the apocalypse, and together they rode on a big motorcycle and rode through empty cities, deserted highways, and ancient forests. Along their journey, they encountered many dangers, but they kept going. They searched for who they were, and they kept on searching. “Where to go to B? ”
Carax, whose unusual body of work includes cult classics such as “Holy Motors” and “Les Amants du Pont-Neuf,” cryptically teased the project: “This is what destroyed us once, this is what kept us alive.” The art provided above by Carax shows that the film will have an enhanced dream-like visual style, similar to his previous work.
Serignac, whose credits include critically acclaimed crowd-pleasers such as “Beating Hearts” and “All Your Faces,” said teaming up with Carax had long been a personal ambition. “For me, Leos Carax is one of the reasons I fell in love with cinema,” Serignac said. “It means so much to me to have the opportunity to embark on this first journey with him. ‘Lily Mae B’ advances his singular vision with his signature freedom, raw emotion, and visual power. It feels only natural today to see this universe meet the immense talent of Jenna Ortega,” he continued. The rest of the A-list cast will be announced in September.
Ortega is repped by CAA, Jeff Heinig and Viewpoint.
