While the rest of us have been navel-gazing during the pandemic, actress, model, and former Disney star Zendaya has secretly been working on a movie according to the New York Post. The film, titled Malcolm and Marie also stars John David Washington (aka Denzel Washington Jr.) has already finished filming and could potentially be the first feature film to prophesy the reopening of Hollywood.
Malcolm and Marie was written by Sam Levinson, creator of Euphoria in which Zendaya stars. The Post reports that Levinson wrote the movie in six days and bankrolled it along with producers Kevin Turen and Ashley Levinson as well as Washington and Zendaya. “Before shooting, Sam Levinson was writing a script for New Regency when Yariv Milchan and Michael Schafer said they wanted to support the financing of Malcolm & Marie and donate their proceeds to charity,” the Post reports. Musician Kid Cudi is also listed as an executive producer on the film.
The film was shot in a little over a month on privately owner property in Monterey, California. Despite all productions being halted by Covid-19, filming on private property was still legal. “Cast and crew wore masks, social distanced had their own separate dwellings with individual HVAC units, took hikes, rehearsed in the parking lot, and ate in designated spots food prepared by a chef who had been quarantined with the group. No one was allowed to leave the property,” according to the Post. Sounds like the worst kind of summer camp.
Little else is known about Malcolm and Marie–a plot and release date have not been announced–but as new films get delayed to 2021 or sent straight to video on demand, the hope that anything remotely new or good is on the horizon is enough to get excited over.
