EXCLUSIVE: Jesse Eisenberg has confirmed his upcoming film The Debut will launch at an autumn film festival this year, and teased new projects including an A24 series with The Social Reckoning producer Peter Rice.
Speaking to Screen at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where he received an honorary President’s Award, Eisenberg said making third feature The Debut was his most comfortable directing experience to date.
“We shot right after the Oscars [in 2025, where Eisenberg was nominated for best original screenplay for A Real Pain],” said the filmmaker. “I had been on a six-month press tour. The Debut feels looser, fun and experimental, because I felt a little more comfortable in my own skin.”
Eisenberg confirmed to Screen that the film will launch at a festival this year. He could not disclose which festival, joking that “[producers] A24 will sue me”.
“We have the most wonderful trajectory,” said Eisenberg. “[A24] are so supportive, and I couldn’t feel luckier going into the fall with them.”
Starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, The Debut follows an unassuming housewife who is unexpectedly cast in a community theatre production and loses herself in the role under the spell of a strong-willed director. A24 will release the film in the US on December 3.
Films from the previous awards season, including One Battle After Another and Marty Supreme, eschewed major festival play [Marty Supreme was a secret screening at New York Film Festival]. Eisenberg said a festival launch for The Debut speaks to the independent spirit of the film.
“We’ve been doing test screenings, and it plays like a crowd-pleaser,” said Eisenberg. “Thinking about how to release it, it has the ethos of a 1990s throwback independent movie. Not just because our stars are Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, but because we shot on film, it takes place in 1990, and because of my interests. And yet it plays more commercially than we expected.
“It was not the kind of thing we felt we had to launch six months before a release, because it didn’t seem like we had to get the goodwill of an audience. I’m not an expert in this, but I’m working with the best people, who have figured out how to get unusual, good movies into the world. This is quite an ‘A24 movie’ and has a particular quality and style that shows well with them.”
Describing himself as “naturally a pessimistic person”, the actor said he hasn’t cleared his schedule for a possible awards campaign for The Debut. However, he spoke glowingly about the performances of his two lead actors. “I wrote the movie for Julianne, so I was picturing her from the moment I started writing, and yet she does things that are so odd and intuitively brilliant. And Paul is my favourite actor in the world; I didn’t conceive of the part that way. He makes me cry every time, and it’s not a part I thought would make me cry. I would clear my schedule to advocate for them with a sandwich board on the streets of New York.”
New projects
Eisenberg elected not to reprise his role as Mark Zuckerberg for Aaron Sorkin’s upcoming The Social Reckoning due to a desire not to be forever associated with Facebook founder Zuckerberg. The film is a standalone sequel to David Fincher’s 2010 The Social Network, for which Eisenberg was nominated for best actor at the Oscars.
However, Eisenberg said he is working with The Social Reckoning producer Peter Rice on a separate project, an untitled TV series based on short stories Eisenberg wrote five years ago. Eisenberg is writing the series, which will also be with A24. He also has another film script in the works and expects to reunite with Woody Harrelson for a fourth Now You See Me film.
After Karlovy Vary, Eisenberg and his wife and child will head to Warsaw to sign off on their newly-awarded Polish citizenship. The filmmaker, who is of Polish descent, filmed A Real Pain in Poland. He said he would love to work with European producers, and has a meeting lined up with The Zone Of Interest producer Ewa Puszczynska.
“Ewa is totally uncynical; she’s so bright, sharp and open-minded to art,” said Eisenberg. “She sent me a script last week for this art film. It’s amazing that she’s still so open to abstraction.”
Eisenberg said he does not consider himself a participant in the industry side of filmmaking and had little knowledge of Paramount’s ongoing takeover of Warner Bros. “The only thing I care about [on that topic] is I have friends who work in the industry, and if they lose their jobs from these mergers, that’s awful.”
At a talk about his career at the festival yesterday, Eisenberg said “the future of the film industry is quite scary” in the context of advancing technologies including AI, and visualisation which removes the need for physical sets.
Speaking to Screen, he expressed admiration for the return of the Dogma filmmaking movement and said he would gladly participate in a US version. “The paradox of rules is that they open creativity,” said Eisenberg. “Too many opportunities can be stifling, so [a US Dogma] would be amazing.”
Fellow Karlovy Vary guest Maggie Gyllenhaal has spoken of her plans to focus on directing over acting. Having acted from a young age, Eisenberg said he remains open to all creative opportunities. “I felt lucky that they made Now You See Me 3, and if I get a call for a fourth one, I’ll do it,” said Eisenberg. “As a freelance person, I feel lucky to have any job.”
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