Janelle Monáe is set to join the cast of Universal Pictures’ untitled Pharrell Williams and Michel Gondry musical project.
The singer and actor joins Kelvin Harrison Jr., Halle Bailey, Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Oscar nominee Brian Tyree Henry and Missy Elliott in the film.
The project is described as a coming-of-age musical set during the summer of 1977 in Virginia Beach, inspired by the Atlantis Apartments, Williams’ childhood neighborhood.
Gondry is set to direct the project based on a script by Martin Hynes and Steven Levenson.
Williams and Mimi Valdés will produce through i am OTHER and Gil Netter will produce through Gil Netter Productions.
Universal’s Senior VP of Production Development Ryan Jones and Director of Production Development Christine Sun will oversee the project for the studio.
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Monáe’s film credits include “Moonlight,” “Lady and the Tramp,” “Harriet,” “The Glorias” and “Antebellum.”
For her role in 2017’s “Hidden Figures,” Monáe and co-stars earned a Screen Actors Guild Award for outstanding cast in a motion picture. In 2023, she starred alongside Daniel Craig and an ensemble cast in “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” winning aNational Board of Review Award for best supporting actress, along with a Critics’ Choice Movie Award and a Satellite Award with the rest of the cast. She is also the recipient aChildren’s and Family Emmy Awardfor her writing on“We the People.”
She has released four studio albums, “The ArchAndroid,” “The Electric Lady,” “Dirty Computer” and “The Age of Pleasure,” and has been nominated for 10 total Grammy Awards.
Monae is repped by WME, ID PR, Mikael Moore and Kelli Andrews at Wondaland Management, Ben Rubinfeld at Ziffren Brittenham, and Matthew Johnson at Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.
