Glen Powell And Barry Jenkins Team On Movie Adaptation Of Matt Aldrich’s Upcoming Sci-Fi Novel ‘The Natural Order’ At Universal – Deadline
By Justin Kroll Film Editor
EXCLUSIVE: Following the success of Mufasa: The Lion King, Barry Jenkins has found his next big studio film and has landed one of Hollywood’s busiest A-listers to star in it. Sources tell Deadline that Universal has landed the hot package The Natural Order, with Jenkins on board to direct and Powell attached to star.
The project is based on upcoming novel from Matt Aldrich after sources say the studio preemptively landed rights to it last week. Details are being kept under wraps, but the pitch has been billed as an elevated sci-fi thriller revolving around the pursuit of eternal life. Jenkins and Aldrich will be adapting from Aldrich’s unpublished manuscript.
The project marks the first film Powell and Dan Cohen will produce for their new company Barnstorm under its first-look deal at Universal, which started last month. In addition, Adele Romanski and Mark Ceryak will produce under the Pastel banner they share with Jenkins. Also in talks to produce is Jewerl Keats Ross, who was instrumental in bringing Jenkins, Aldrich and Powell together. Ross most recently produced the Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Sujo.
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Senior EVP Production Development Erik Baiers will oversee the project for Universal.
Insiders say Jenkins, Powell and Aldrich had been developing the film for some time and recently took it to market. Financial figures are unknown, but sources say the mix between getting one of the biggest stars in town along with the Oscar-winning director working in a new genre for him was too good an opportunity to pass up.
Powell has become one of the top stars that studios are going to for their tentpole-type projects. He is currently shooting The Running Man, Edgar Wright’s adaptation of the Stephen King story, for Paramount Pictures, with the sci-fi thriller expected to be released November 7, 2025. Powell is coming off the summer hit Twisters, which became the biggest opening weekend ever for a natural disaster film at the domestic box office with $81.2 million. Its stateside final was $267.7M, and globally it grossed $371M. Powell also recently starred in the box office hit Anyone But You, while his film Hit Man, which he co-wrote and produced, was the No. 1 movie on Netflix for several weeks in a row.
He next can be seen next in the Hulu series Chad Powers and a new movie from J.J. Abrams.
Jenkins recently directed Mufasa for Disney which has crossed $700 million at the global box office. He most notably directed Best Picture Winner Moonlight, which also won him the Oscar for Adapted Screenplay. Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk received three Oscar nominations and won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film. His limited series Underground Railroad won him best limited series at the Golden Globes and BAFTA and earned Jenkins a DGA Award for Best Director. It also scored seven Emmy nomination.
Aldrich most notably wrote Coco for Disney/Pixar; the film grossed more than $800 million worldwide and went on to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Warner Bros and DC Studios just greenlit his screenplay for Dynamic Duo, the Robin origin story, and has dated the film for a summer 2028 release.
The unpublished manuscript that inspired The Natural Order pitch will be Aldrich’s first novel.
Powell is repped by CAA and Johnson Shapiro. Jenkins and Aldrich are repped by CAA, Ross and lawyer Jamie Feldman.Get our Breaking News Alerts and Keep your inbox happy.Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters
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Source: http://deadline.com/2025/03/glen-powell-barry-jenkins-the-natural-order-movie-1236324474/
