Valérie Lemercier, who made that wild Celine Dion biopic, is in the new Woody Allen movie

Following the news that Woody Allen may or may not be retiring after completing his 50th movie, more details are emerging about the picture, which is about to enter production in Paris. As reported by Variety, the project will star Valérie Lemercier and Niels Schneider and be shot entirely in French. Other actors attached so far are Elsa Zylberstein, Lou de Laage, and Melvil Poupaud.

Allen has described the movie as being “exciting, dramatic and also very sinister.” Titled Wasp 22, it is apparently a “poisonous romantic thriller” in the vein of Match Point. Starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and repeated collaborator Scarlett Johansson, the 2005 release is generally considered to be one of the stronger efforts in the disgraced director’s latter-day career.

Lemercier has primarily appeared in French productions, but she was seen in the 1995 remake of Sabrina starring Harrison Ford and the 2011 Selena Gomez comedy Monte Carlo. If her name sounds familiar, she recently gained more attention outside of francophone film circles for making the unauthorized Celine Dion biopic Aline.

Described in The A.V. Club’s review as “more hilarious than humanizing,” the deeply chaotic project featured the actor/director playing the “My Heart Will Go On” singer at every age depicted, including as a child, despite being in her 50s. France’s César Awards were undeterred by this, and Lemercier won Best Actress in 2022, as well as being nominated for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay.

Schneider broke out with his work with Xavier Dolan. He appeared in the acclaimed French-Canadian actor/director’s first two films, I Killed My Mother in 2009 and Heartbeats in 2011. His latest project seems unlikely to inspire any thirsty Tumblr gifsets, considering that it probably won’t even get unceremoniously dumped on streaming.