A recent story atVarietyconfirms thatCate Blanchettis the first cast announcement forPedro Almodóvar’sA Manual for Cleaning Ladies. This will be Almodóvar’s first English-language feature film, but his extensive career features over forty Spanish-language titles, includingTalk to Her,Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!andParallel Mothers.A Manual for Cleaning Ladieswill be an adaptation of the short-story collection of the same name by authorLucia Berlin, containing forty-three stories about women who each have various demanding jobs. The book explores a range of experiences across each short story’s protagonists, from laundromat workers and women in halfway houses to upper-class Bay Area residents and struggling mothers.
The project is still in the early stages of development, with Blanchett being the only cast member announced so far. The film will also be produced by Blanchett’s production company Dirty Films, in collaboration with New Republic Pictures and in association with El Deseo. Other producers for the film includeAndrew UptonandCoco Francini, as well asBrian OliverandBradley Fischerwith Almodóvar. Almodóvar also shared that he’s writing the script in Spanish before translating it to English. The writer and director developed an English short in 2020 titledThe Human VoicewithTilda Swinton, which received much critical acclaim.
Blanchett has also been busy with multiple recent projects, includingAdam McKay’sDon’t Look UpandGuillermo del Toro’sNightmare Alley. Both films have been positively received by audiences. InDon’t Look Up, Blanchett slips into a parody of a right-wing news anchor set on pretending everything is fine in spite of the impending end of the world, and her role inNightmare Alleygives her a little more room to flex her acting abilities as she steals the show as the film’s femme fatale.
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Blanchett has won two Academy Awards, one for Best Supporting Actress forThe Aviator, and another for Best Actress forBlue Jasmine. In addition toA Manual for Cleaning Women, her upcoming projects for this year include Del Toro andMark Gustafson’sPinocchio,BorderlandsfromEli Roth, andTÁRfromTodd Field. She’s also been announced as Lady Marchmain for aBrideshead Revisitedminiseries.
There is no planned release date yet forA Manual for Cleaning Women, but production is expected to begin later this year. Stay tuned at Collider as we receive more casting announcements for the film.
