Selena Gomez is making one of her boldest career pivots yet, with a provocative new film that’s a far cry from her Disney Channel days.
The 33-year-old is said to be attached to director Brady Corbet’s next project – an ambitious X-rated feature, according to Variety.
Corbet, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind The Brutalist, is reportedly assembling an A-list cast, with Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender also linked to the film.
Blanchett herself recently dropped a major hint at the Cannes Film Festival, saying she is ‘about to work with Brady Corbet on a film,’ while Fassbender’s involvement was revealed just days earlier, per the outlet.
The project, rumored to be titled The Origin of the World, is said to unfold largely in the 1970s, with Corbet previously teasing its ‘X-rated content’ in a 2025 interview.
He also hinted the film could stretch to around four hours, revealing at the Storyhouse Screenwriting Festival in Dublin that the script runs to roughly 200 pages.
Selena Gomez is said to be attached to director Brady Corbet’s next project – an ambitious X-rated feature, according to Variety
Corbet’s The Brutalist already raised eyebrows with a 165-page script and a sprawling three-and-a-half-hour runtime – but this new project looks set to push things even further.
‘The film spans from the 19th century into the present day – it’s just predominantly focused on the 70s. The film is really, really genre-defying,’ Corbett said in 2025, per Variety.
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In keeping with its outsized ambition, the production is also reportedly being shot using rare eight-perf 65mm cameras.
The project will mark Corbet’s fourth feature as a director, following The Childhood of a Leader, Vox Lux, and last year’s Oscar contender The Brutalist.
Behind the scenes, he also continues to collaborate with Mona Fastvold, having produced her film The Testament of Ann Lee.
The edgy new role may not come as a total surprise to fans who have watched Gomez steadily distance herself from the squeaky-clean Disney image that first made her famous.
In 2023, the star admitted she finally felt liberated from the pressure that came with growing up under the Disney spotlight after rising to fame on Wizards of Waverly Place.
‘I definitely feel free of it,’ Gomez told Variety at the time. ‘Sometimes I get triggered. It’s not that I’m ashamed of my past, it’s just that I’ve worked so hard to find my own way. I don’t want to be who I was. I want to be who I am.’
The project, rumored to be titled The Origin of the World, is said to unfold largely in the 1970s, with Corbet previously teasing its ‘X-rated content’
Corbet also hinted the film could stretch to around four hours, revealing at the Storyhouse Screenwriting Festival in Dublin that the script runs to roughly 200 pages
The singer and actress, who has also been in Only Murders in the Building, acknowledged that strict expectations were placed on her during her child-star years, particularly regarding maintaining a wholesome public image.
‘Of course. I wasn’t a wild child by any means, but I was on Disney, so I had to make sure not to say “What the hell?” in front of anyone,’ she explained.
‘It’s stuff that I was also putting on myself to be the best role model I could be. Now I think being the best role model is being honest, even with the ugly and complicated parts of yourself.’
Gomez later doubled down on that honesty in her 2022 documentary Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, where she opened up candidly about her mental health struggles and fears about public judgment.
‘Now I don’t feel like I’m lying to people,’ Gomez told the outlet. ‘It’s not that I was lying…I was scared of what people would think or that people wouldn’t hire me. Now I don’t think that way.
‘I understand that if it doesn’t feel good to me, then I need to step back and evaluate. Is this friendship giving me something? Is this project a really good one?’
The eyebrow-raising casting news also comes just days after Gomez’s husband, Benny Blanco, found himself fielding some very personal questions about their relationship.
During a recent episode of his Friends Keep Secrets podcast, the 38-year-old music producer was put on the spot by co-host David ‘Lil Dicky’ Burd, who pressed him about the couple’s sex life.
Corbet, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind The Brutalist, is reportedly assembling an A-list cast, with Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender also linked to the film
In 2023, the star admitted she finally felt liberated from the pressure that came with growing up under the Disney spotlight after rising to fame on Wizards of Waverly Place
‘I’m not allowed to talk about that publicly,’ Blanco replied awkwardly.
‘Oh, she made you sign one?’ Burd joked back, seemingly suggesting Gomez had him locked into a non-disclosure agreement.
‘No. I’m just, like, a gentleman,’ Blanco insisted before stumbling through the explanation.
‘Kinda just, like, a thing I do. I’m a gentleman or something. I don’t know,’ he added.
