Adele is making a major career move, setting aside her microphone (at least temporarily) to take on her first feature film acting role, per film-news.co.uk.
The global superstar will make her highly-anticipated acting debut in Tom Ford’s next directorial effort, “Cry to Heaven”.
The film is an adaptation of Anne Rice’s 1982 novel of the same name. The fictional period drama is set in 18th-century Italy, following the intertwined lives of a Venetian noble and a castrated opera singer. Fashion designer-turned-director Tom Ford will direct and produce the feature from his own adapted screenplay.
“Cry to Heaven” boasts a truly star-studded ensemble cast, including Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, George MacKay, Mark Strong, Colin Firth, Paul Bettany, Hunter Schafer, Thandiwe Newton and Adolescence’s breakout star, Owen Cooper. The film also marks a reunion for Ford with his A Single Man leads, Firth and Hoult, and Nocturnal Animals star, Taylor-Johnson.
According to reports, the project is currently in pre-production, split between London and Rome, with principal photography slated to begin in January. Ford is reportedly self-financing the ambitious feature, which is projected for release in autumn 2026.
This new creative venture aligns with comments Adele made last year. After wrapping up her highly successful Las Vegas residency in November 2024, the singer shared she was planning to take “a big break” from music to explore other artistic avenues.
“I don’t have any plans for new music, at all,” Adele stated in an interview with German TV station ZDF last July. “I want a big break after this, and I think I want to do other creative things, just for a little while.”
While this is her first significant acting role, Adele has previously appeared on-screen in a 2009 cameo in the TV series Ugly Betty. She is also famously the voice behind the Academy Award-winning theme song to the 2012 James Bond film, Skyfall.
“Cry to Heaven” will be Ford’s third film as a director, following his critically acclaimed hits A Single Man (2009) and Nocturnal Animals (2016).
