As Taylor Swift‘s ironclad grip on the pop culture zeitgeist tightens unprecedentedly via her Eras Tour, many of us would be remiss to forget that the legendary singer-songwriter is currently cooking in more than one artistic kitchen.
Indeed, the development is surely as fresh in the minds of her biggest fans as it was when the news first dropped, but the rest of us may have forgotten that the Folklore mastermind is in the midst of helming her first feature film with Searchlight Pictures, from a script that the artist wrote herself no less.
At the time of writing, Searchlight’s involvement is all that’s known about Swift’s movie; casting announcements and plot details are nowhere to be found. But, cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto — whose credits include Brokeback Mountain, Silence, and The Irishman (each of which he received a Best Cinematography Oscar nod for), movie of the moment Barbie, and, most crucially, quite a few of Swift’s music videos — says the movie is coming along swimmingly.
In a recent interview with The Wrap, Prieto admitted to knowing nothing about the movie, but that didn’t stop him from having rightfully unshakable faith in Swift’s ability to craft a top-notch cinematic narrative.
I don’t know what the status is right now because I’ve been on my movie, but we have talked about it and I don’t know if I’ll end up doing it or someone else [will], but I think she’s great. I must say the stuff I’ve done with her, the music videos, she’s been extraordinary. Someone who didn’t grow up as a director – she’s a musician and a singer and wonderful at that – to see that she understands cinema and understands storytelling, she understands how to tell the story with a camera and she’s great with the technical aspects as well.
Despite the entire world seemingly being in the dark about the film (and with the SAG-AFTRA strike still in full swing, we could be for a while), that hasn’t stopped Swifties from whipping out a theory that has more than a few legs than it has any right to have.
Swift’s next stop on the Eras Tour will take place in Mexico City’s Foro Sol venue, where she’ll perform on Aug. 24 through to Aug. 27.