Move over Alana Haim, there’s a new Grammy-nominated-musician-turned-first-time-actor in town. R&B angel SZA is making a pivot to cinema, having snagged a starring role in Tuna Melt, a new movie from filmmaker and Fresh Off the Boat producer Eddie Huang. The musician will appear in the film alongside actress Chloe Cherry, best known for her performance in season two of HBO’s Euphoria — as a headstrong, baby tee-wearing heroin user named Faye — and trademark sullen girl pout. Name a more iconic duo, we won’t wait!
The project, announced this week by Deadline, is being billed as “an updated Pulp Fiction meets High Fidelity”, but wait – does that refer to the British novel, its 00s American rom-com adaptation, or the queer Zoë Kravitz spin-off series, taken from us too soon? Who else is involved in this movie? What is it about, anyway? And when can we watch it with our own two eyes? Here’s everything we know about the film so far.
What’s the plot of Tuna Melt?
The film, described as a “darkly comedic feature”, will star director Eddie Huang. Eddie, known for his 2021 film Boogie, will play a hitman who “unexpectedly meets the love of his life” after completing a job (so, murdering someone), all in the aftermath of a breakup. It sounds pretty toxic, but is an intriguing premise nonetheless.
The publication says that the film has been likened to both Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and High Fidelity which (regardless of the iteration), like Tuna Melt, is another breakup-focused dramedy.
Who will SZA play? And what do we know about Chloe Cherry’s character?
SZA will play the hitman’s new love interest while “details as to Cherry’s role are being kept under wraps,” according to Deadline.
Who is behind the camera? And who wrote the script?
Eddie Huang will direct Tuna Melt, which he also wrote the script for. In a 2021 interview with Complex, the filmmaker appears to tease the project: “I did write a script and I basically want to make a Hong Kong gangster film set in L.A., shot in that style, done in that way, but with a very L.A. character, Asian American,” he said. “Rolling around Mid-City and Inglewood, and all those things. I think there’s going to be a lot of fun. That’s a film I want to make.”
When is the film’s release date?
Whoa, slow down. Let’s wait for production to start first, shall we?