Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan will star in The Weeknd's mysterious new movie
Earlier this week, The Weeknd (a.k.a. Abel Tesfaye) teased everything he has coming in the new year: "New album, new tour, new movie, new everything." His next album Hurry Up Tomorrow, billed as the conclusion to the trilogy begun with 2020's After Hours, is due out in January. Now, the artist has announced a film of the same name premiering May 16, 2025 and featuring some of Hollywood's hottest stars: Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan. And, of course, Tesfaye himself.
Lionsgate will release Hurry Up Tomorrow the movie, which is described as a "suspense thriller" written and directed by Trey Edward Shults (Waves). It's the first feature film from Tesfaye's production company Manic Phase. Tesfaye's The Idol collaborators Reza Fahim, Harrison Kreiss, and the late Kevin Turen are all executive producers, as is Ortega; additional EPs include Shults, Michael Rapino, Ryan Kroft, Wassim “Sal” Slaiby, and Harrison Huffman.
2025 pic.twitter.com/RoKnBBg6fq
— Abel Tesfaye (@theweeknd) December 18, 2024
The film, which will of course feature new music from the singer, is billed as a "first of its kind theatrical experience" and "the essential conclusion to The Weeknd’s artistic trilogy." In a win for Easter egg culture, the press release invites fans "to uncover connections between the albums, his live performances, and the film." The visuals Tesfaye has released so far in for the album appear to have connections to different phases of his career, in addition to being just generally creepy, uncanny valley clips.
All in all, The Weeknd is making a big splash with Hurry Up Tomorrow (possibly because it marks the end of "The Weeknd" era). The album is due out on January 24, and he's staging a one-night-only special show at the Rose Bowl to commemorate it. Based on everything he's said so far, it seems like a full tour announcement isn't too far behind. But he's clearly not let go of his Hollywood aspirations either (even after the critical disaster that was The Idol), so perhaps the Hurry Up Tomorrow movie will mark a transition into new artistic pursuits.