Leonardo DiCaprio And More Are Joining Jennifer Lawrence As Part Of Netflix Film's A-List Cast

Maryl Streep Timothee Chalamet Cate Blanchett Leonardo DiCaprio Jennifer Lawrence Jonah Hill

Back in February we got the news that Jennifer Lawrence was going to be teaming up with writer/director Adam McKay on Don't Look Up, a comedy about the end of the world, and we instantly got excited. After all, what's not to be excited about when it comes to one of the best actors in the business working with one of the filmmakers in the business? Now, however, it turns out that Lawrence is just one of many A-listers who are a part of this project.

Jennifer Lawrence has been joined in Don't Look Up by a talent roster that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill, Himesh Patel, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Kid Cudi, Matthew Perry, Rob Morgan, and Tomer Sisley. The official Netflix Twitter account announced the news on their timeline, and it's made all the more impressive by it's accompanied collection of headshots:

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Set to be written, produced, and directed by Adam McKay as his follow-up to the Academy Award-winning Vice, the story will follow a pair of "low-level" astronomers who discover that the Earth will soon be destroyed by a giant asteroid that is on a collision course with the planet. Together they set out on a media tour to try and warn the world, and knowing McKay's sensibilities it will probably not be the easiest gig.

Acknowledging the filmmaker's advocacy in regard to climate change, it wouldn't exactly be surprising to find that the movie will serve as a metaphor of that particular crisis and the struggle to convince everyone of its extreme danger.

According to Deadline, most of the stars announced as part of the cast today have been "loosely attached" for months now, but that the big fish that the project found tricky to reel in was Leonardo DiCaprio. This wasn't because of a lack of interest; in fact, its quite the opposite. Don't Look Up has apparently been in front of the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood star for a while now, but he has been struggling to find a way to make both it and Martin Scorsese's next film, Killers Of The Flower Moon, which are developing simultaneously. Now the schedules have worked out that allow him to do both, hence this announcement.

Unfortunately we have no idea at this stage who is playing what part in Don't Look Up, but really, does it matter? With this murderer's row of talent involved, it's hard to imagine anyone not streaming this film as soon as possible when it hits Netflix. Now that the cast is set, hopefully production will be able to start soon, and if that's the case it's possible that it could be ready for release in the second half of 2021.

We'll most definitely be keeping a close eye on the development of this project, so stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for all of the latest news and updates.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.