Blake Lively is making a turn towards the backstage behind the camera as she has been signed on for her directorial debut. The Gossip Girl actress will direct a feature film (via Collider), Seconds, which is adapted from a graphic novel by Bryan Lee O’Malley. Lee is famous for creating the comic book series, Scott Pilgrim, which itself has also been adapted into a feature film.
In her first venture as a filmmaker, Lively will be supported by one of the finest writers in the industry today, Edgar Wright. Wright, who will pen the screenplay for Seconds, is a famed director and writer. He has earlier written films like Ant-Man (which he earlier planned to direct as well) and has directed Baby Driver and the hit psychological horror, Last Night in Soho. It was Wright who adapted Lee’s Scott Pilgrim comics into a film and also directed it.
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Seconds follows Katie Clay, a young talented chef who runs the kitchen for the titular restaurant, Seconds. When her career and life are at their best, her life turns around as her mistakes and bad decisions come to haunt her, sending her downhill in everything. But, she surprisingly receives powers to correct her mistake by eating some magical mushrooms, which she began to use in order for having a perfect life. However, her perfect life draws her away from her desires, eventually leading Katie to wreck the rules of space and time with her actions, thus, sending her into huge trouble.
From the story, it seems that Seconds would be a fantasy film, featuring elements of magic and supernatural. Seconds hasn’t started production yet, but with Wright finalized as the writer and Lively already on board to get her first credit as director, new updates would come up soon.
Blake Lively’s Experience and Her Crew May Hype Seconds
With Blake Lively’s name attached to it, the film will likely gain a lot of hype, especially since it will be a film she’ll be helming herself. Lively has previously worked on films like The Town, All I See Is You, The Husband’s Secret, and The Age of Adaline. Her film, A Simple Favor was well received by the critics, with everyone praising her performance as the film’s antagonist. Though Seconds is Lively’s feature film directorial debut, she has previously ventured into the craft. In 2021, Blake Lively co-wrote, produced, and directed the music video for Taylor Swift’s “I Bet You Think About Me,” making it her official debut as a director.
Furthermore, besides Wright, Marc Platt will bring the film to happen as a producer. Platt is a three-time Academy Award nominee, previously nominated for La La Land, Bridge of Spies, and The Trial of the Chicago 7. The film is backed by Searchlight Pictures, which has also given Academy Award Best Picture winners like Slumdog Millionaire, 12 Years A Slave, Birdman, The Shape of Water, and Nomadland. With such a crew of creative professionals, producers, and writers, Lively has quite the backing, and seems like Seconds is being eyed as a major project with high hopes from it.
The official synopsis from Goodreads for the book says:
Katie’s got it pretty good. She’s a talented young chef, she runs a successful restaurant, and she has big plans to open an even better one. Then, all at once, progress on the new location bogs down, her charming ex-boyfriend pops up, her fling with another chef goes sour, and her best waitress gets badly hurt. And just like that, Katie’s life goes from pretty good to not so much. What she needs is a second chance. Everybody deserves one, after all—but they don’t come easy. Luckily for Katie, a mysterious girl appears in the middle of the night with simple instructions for a do-it-yourself do-over:
Write your mistake
Ingest one mushroom
Go to sleep
Wake anew
And just like that, all the bad stuff never happened, and Katie is given another chance to get things right. She’s also got a dresser drawer full of magical mushrooms—and an irresistible urge to make her life not just good, but perfect. Too bad it’s against the rules. But Katie doesn’t care about the rules—and she’s about to discover the unintended consequences of the best intentions.
