‘A Tree Is Blue’: Dakota Johnson Sets Up Directorial Debut with Jessica Alba & Charli XCX to Star!!

She starred in the biggest romantic comedy of the year; now, Dakota Johnson is preparing to go behind the camera to direct her first feature. The Materialists star is set to direct the drama A Tree Is Blue, with Jessica Alba and Charli XCX set to star. According to reports, A Tree Is Blue will center around a young autistic woman who’s looking for fun, friendship, and freedom after graduating from high school, but has to escape the shadow of her loving but overbearing mother.

The script is by Vanessa Burghardt, who co-starred with Johnson in Cha Cha Real Smooth; Burghardt is also set to star in the film. This will be Johnson‘s first feature directorial effort, but she previously co-directed the music video for Coldplay‘s “Cry Cry Cry” while she was dating frontman Chris Martin, and also helmed the short film Loser Baby, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival this year. A Tree Is Blue is set to film in Los Angeles next month.

Where Can the Creators of ‘A Tree Is Blue’ Be Seen Next?

After a busy year in which she starred in both Materialists and Splitsville, Johnson is next set to star alongside Anne Hathaway in the Colleen Hoover adaptation Verity. After a hiatus from the screen, Alba was back in action last year with the actioner Trigger Warning. Next, she’s set to star in the biographical sports drama Maserati: The Brothers.

She heated up the pop charts with last year’s “Brat Summer,” and now Charli XCX has been busy on the silver screen. She’s set to star in a number of upcoming films, including the fantasy 100 Nights of Hero, the volcanic drama Erupcja (which she co-wrote), the Cathy Yan thriller The Gallerist, the action comedy Sacrifice, the horror film Faces of Death, and the Gregg Araki erotic thriller I Want Your Sex. She’ll also play herself in the upcoming music mockumentary The Moment, alongside Alexander Skarsgård; she conceived the story for the film, and will also produce it. She will also produce the score for the David Lowery film Mother Mary with Jack Antonoff. Burghardt, who is on the autism spectrum, recently starred in A Dance in the Snow and Lost and Found in Cleveland.

A Tree Is Blue will be produced by Johnson, Ro Donnelly, and Sam Racanelli for TeaTime Pictures; Rob Paris and Mike Witherill will produce for Rivulet. TeaTime’s Hyunji Ward will executive produce alongside Rick Steele.