Barry Jenkins in Talks to Direct Glen Powell in Sci-Fi Thriller ‘The Natural Order’ – Variety
The Universal movie is based on Matthew Aldrich’s unpublished manuscript
By
Angelique Jackson
Oscar winner Barry Jenkins looks to have found his next film — a new sci-fi thriller starring Glen Powell.
The project, titled “The Natural Order,” comes from an unpublished manuscript by Matthew Aldrich (“Coco”), and revolves around the pursuit of eternal life.
Universal preemptively landed the rights to the original pitch, with Jenkins in talks to direct. Jenkins and Aldrich are attached to adapt the screenplay from an unpublished manuscript written by Aldrich (which will be his first novel).
The project aligns two of 2024’s biggest box office drivers: Jenkins is fresh from helming “Mufasa: The Lion King” for Disney, which went on to become the seventh biggest release of the year globally, grossing more than $700 million. Meanwhile, Powell enjoyed back-to-back theatrical wins with the Sony rom-com “Anyone but You” and Universal’s “Twisters,” and earned a Golden Globe and WGA nomination for Netflix’s “Hit Man.”
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Plus, the pairing of studio and star continues the relationship between Universal and Powell following the success of “Twisters,” which grossed $372 million worldwide and was the eighth biggest domestic release of the year. As such, “The Natural Order” is the first project Jenkins will produce (with Dan Cohen) via his company Barnstorm Production’s first look deal with Universal, which began last month.
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Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak and Jenkins will produce under their Pastel banner. Jewerl Keats Ross will also produce. Senior EVP of production development Erik Baiers will oversee the project for the studio.
Powell is repped by CAA and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole; Jenkins and Aldrich are repped by CAA, manager Jewerl Keats Ross and lawyer Jamie Feldman.
Deadline first reported news of the project.
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Source: https://variety.com/2025/film/news/barry-jenkins-glen-powell-natural-order-1236336766/
