Sean Baker isn’t looking to follow his fellow Academy Award-winning directors Chloe Zhao and Barry Jenkins and swap indie films for big IPs. Instead, the “Anora” writer/director is determined to stay “100 percent independent” and outside of the studio system.
Baker said during THR’s “It Happened in Hollywood” podcast that he most likely will never sell out for a franchise blockbuster. “Don’t expect a Marvel film,” he said. “It’s not going to happen. I’m intentionally going to stay in the same wheelhouse and with the approximate same budget. I think that I enjoy working in this space of 100 percent independent.”
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Baker teased that while he’s “not sure yet” about his next project after “Anora” (“I’m still exploring some ideas”), he knows he will have to have full autonomy of the production no matter what. “I’m not working for even a mini studio. I’m making my film independently and then going the old school route of hopefully a bidding war or somebody licensing the movie,” he said. “I think that’s the only way to have full autonomy and control over your vision. So it’ll be that. Expect more of the same.”
“Anora” won five Academy Awards including Best Picture. Baker made Oscars history by earning four Academy Awards himself for aforementioned Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing. Mikey Madison also won for Best Actress.
Like Baker, Madison made it clear that she was looking to stay in the indie space. She was rumored to have turned down “Star Wars: Starfighter,” the Shawn Levy-directed franchise installment with Ryan Gosling in the lead. Madison also was believed to be in talks for Luca Guadagnino’s now-shelved DC Studios Film “Sgt. Rock.” The actress has voiced her desire to collaborate with prolific auteur Guadagnino soon.
Madison later announced that her first project post-“Anora” will be Alejandro Landes Echavarría’s “Reptilia.” The feature is billed as being about “a dental hygienist who is seduced by a mysterious mermaid into the dark and wet underworld of Florida’s exotic animal trade.” Kirsten Dunst co-stars, and Barry Jenkins’ Pastel produces. Principal photography is expected to begin in fall 2025.
