Dakota Johnson is stepping behind the camera to help tell a special story. The 35-year-old Materialists actress revealed that she is planning to direct a movie written by her Cha Cha Real Smooth costar Vanessa Burghardt, during the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.

Johnson played the mother of a teenager with autism in the 2022 movie, and Burghardt's script is "about a young woman with autism," Johnson said. "I just don't think I could allow anyone else to direct it," she added, saying that she was "protective" of her onscreen daughter.

Johnson is attending Cannes to promote her new movie Splitsville, one of three upcoming projects she has in the works. The movie had its premiere at the festival on Monday, May 19.

Collaboration with Vanessa Burghardt

Johnson and Burghardt played a mother-daughter duo in the 2022 romantic comedy Cha Cha Real Smooth. Written, directed by, and starring Cooper Raiff, it followed Raiff and Johnson's characters as they flirted with a romance after meeting at a bat mitzvah. Johnson's TeaTime Pictures produced the movie.

"I want to direct and I need to grow the f------ balls to do it... Actually, no, I don't," she said about the opportunity to work with Burghardt to make her film a reality. "I'm not going to grow balls and no one can make me."

During the conversation, Johnson explained what led to her creating TeaTime Pictures, saying she wanted to "make my own movies because I want more from this industry."

"I want more from my experience as an artist. I felt so thirsty for more conversation and more creativity and more collaboration," she continued.

Upcoming Projects

Splitsville, in which Johnson costars with Adria Arjona and Nicholas Braun, does not yet have a release date. On June 13, Johnson's romantic drama Materialists, which also stars Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal, releases in theaters; she also stars in the adaptation of Colleen Hoover's Verity, which won't release until 2026.

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