Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley to star in Chloé Zhao's next movie

Paul Mescal in Normal People — (Image credit: BBC/Hulu)

Nomadland director Chloé Zhao's next movie is in the works and has set its leads: Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley are set to star in the filmmaker's adaptation of award-winning novel Hamnet, Deadline reports.

Hamnet follows William Shakespeare (Mescal) and his wife Agnes (Buckley) in the wake of the loss of their only son, Hamnet, following the emotional and artistic consequences of his death that culminate in Shakespeare penning his famous tragedy Hamlet. Written by Maggie O'Farrell (who will adapt the script in collaboration with Zhao), the New York Times bestselling novel won the Women's Prize for Fiction back in 2020.

Mescal seems to be the man of the hour at the moment, with a recently announced role in Ridley Scott's Gladiator sequel, an Oscar nomination for his performance in Aftersun, and an Olivier Award for his role in A Streetcar Named Desire on London's West End.

Buckley, meanwhile, was most recently seen in Sarah Polley's Academy Award-winning drama Women Talking and she also recently won an Olivier, albeit at last year's ceremony, for playing Sally Bowles in Cabaret.

As for Zhao, this is her first movie since the 2021's Eternals. Prior to that, her movie Nomadland won Best Picture and Best Director at the 2021 Oscars, making her the first Asian woman to win the latter award. The film's star, Frances McDormand, also won Best Actress.

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.