Before she suits up as Captain Marvel, Brie Larson will be getting behind the camera. The actress is using the clout that comes with an Oscar win wisely, as THR reports that Larson is set to make her directorial debut with the independent comedy Unicorn Store. Larson will also produce and star in the film, which is based on an original screenplay by Samantha McIntyre and revolves around a woman who moves back in with her parents and suddenly receives an invitation to a store that will “test her ideas of what it really means to grow up.”
The project has been shepherded by producers David Bernad and Ruben Fleischer via their banner The District, and was at one point set up as a starring vehicle for Rebel Wilson with The Good Girl helmer Miguel Arteta directing. Bernad and Fleischer brought the project to Larson before she won the Best Actress Oscar for her stunning turn in Room, and now with funding secured, Unicorn Store is moving full-speed ahead with an October production start-date eyed.
Larson previously co-wrote and co-directed the Sundance award-winning short film The Arm so she’s been behind the camera before, just not on a feature film. The versatile actress first broke out on the TV series United States of Tara before turning in swell work in films like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, 21 Jump Street, and most impressively the indie drama Short Term 12, but it was last year’s Room where Larson finally broke out into the mainstream.
After Room, Larson went off and shot the Warner Bros. blockbuster Kong: Skull Island, then most recently reteamed with her Short Term 12 director Destin Daniel Cretton on the indie drama The Glass Castle. Just a couple of weeks ago it was announced that Larson will lead Marvel Studios’ first female-led superhero movie Captain Marvel, and now she’s diving back into the indie world with Unicorn Store.
Clearly the actress has no intention of sticking to one lane, and is instead admirably keen on mixing it up between major blockbuster fare and smaller, more intimate character dramas. It’s a delightfully diverse path, and one that’s been a long time coming for this talented performer.
