Cynthia Erivo may just be the most booked and busy woman in Hollywood right now. Having just defied gravity as Elphaba Thropp in Jon M. Chu's Wicked
Cynthia Erivo may just be the most booked and busy woman in Hollywood right now. Having just defied gravity as Elphaba Thropp in Jon M. Chu’s Wicked (whose sequel, Wicked: For Good, arrives in November), the British Emmy, Grammy, and Tony award winner has kicked off 2025 by *deep breath* singing with Ariana Grande at the Oscars, releasing modern music as a solo artist, landing the titular role in Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl, preparing to appear as sextuplets in Season 2 of Rian Johnson’s Poker Face, bagging a gig hosting this year’s Tonys, and is just now heading into production on Gina Prince-Bythewood’s star-studded upcoming YA fantasy adaptation Children Of Blood And Bone. And now, as sure as night follows day, another buzzy project has just popped up on Erivo’s horizon.
Per Deadline, the Widows actor has boarded Lionsgate and stunt outfit 87Eleven’s upcoming action-thriller Karoshi, in which she’ll star opposite Past Lives‘ Teo Yoo and 1883 breakout Isabel May. From writer-director Takashi Doscher, all we know about Karoshi at this precise moment is that it’s being described as “a corporate thriller with a samurai twist”, it’s due to start shooting in June, and John Wick alumnus Chad Stahelski, Alex Young, and Jason Spitz are all attached to produce under their first-look deal with Lionsgate.
As far as Erivo, Yoo, and May’s roles in the movie are concerned, the leading trio’s characters are currently being kept firmly under wraps, much like Karoshi‘s plot itself. That being said, it is worth noting that ‘Karoshi’ is a Japanese noun literally meaning “death caused by overwork or job-related exhaustion”. Could that, coupled with THR‘s reporting that the film features a “revenge twist”, point towards some sort of The Raid style office block shenanigans possibly? That would fit the corporate-thriller-meets-samurai-twist bill, right? Right? Anywho, stay tuned for more news on what Doscher and co are cooking just as soon as we get it. We’re off for one last crack at nailing that final note on ‘Defying Gravity’. Waaa-Aaaahhh-Aaah-Ah-Uh-Aaaah-Uh-Aaaaaahh… Nailed it.
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