Missy Elliott, Halle Bailey, Anderson. Paak, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph are tied to the upcoming film project
Pharrell Williams and Michel Gondry’s coming-of-age musical film now has name and a theatrical release date: Atlantis, and it’s out on May 9, 2025.
Variety revealed the release date for the film on Thursday, several months after breaking the news that Missy Elliott is also tied to the project. The Universal Pictures film is set to feature a massive, star-studded cast that also includes Halle Bailey and Da’Vine Joy Randolph in lead roles. Anderson .Paak, Janelle Monáe, Tim Meadows, Jayson Brian Tyree Henry, Jaboukie Young-White, and Kelvin Harrison Jr will also appear in the film.
Pharrell is joining Atlantis as a producer alongside Mimi Valdés and Gil Netter, while Gondry, who’s the director behind fan-favorite Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Green Hornet, is set to direct Atlantis. Martin Hynes and Steven Levenson worked on the script. Pharrell will also helm the movie’s music, alongside Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
Although the film’s plot has yet to be revealed, it’s described as a coming-of-age musical set in the summer of 1977 in Virginia Beach in a neighborhood like the one where Pharrell grew up. (Missy Elliott also grew up nearby in Portsmouth.)
Pharrell has yet to address the film’s title and release date, though he shared a movie poster for his upcoming Lego film spinoff, Piece by Piece, which is out in October. (He voices the film’s protagonist, which is based on himself.) In the past, Pharrell has joined films like 2018’s The Grinch as its narrator, all of the Despicable Me films as a composer, and 2016’s Hidden Figures as a producer.