Rebel Wilson to make directorial debut with musical comedy ‘The Deb’.

Rebel Wilson.
| Photo Credit: AP

Actor-comedian Rebel Wilson is all set to go behind the lens and start her directorial journey. As per Variety, Rebel is currently busy directing her first feature film with the musical comedy The Deb, a big-screen adaptation of an Australian musical set in the outback.

The film is produced by Amanda Ghost, Len Blavatnik, and Gregor Cameron via their company Unigram, which recently produced the Apple TV+ movie Tetris. The project was launched around the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday, at a private event aboard billionaire investor Blavatnik’s yacht, where cast members from the Aussie musical performed a number of songs on the vessel’s upper deck.

Blavatnik, sporting a baseball cap with branding for the movie, introduced the singers, making it clear to the intimate gathering aboard his three-floor yacht that he was an enthusiastic backer of the project and, indeed, Wilson.

Originally premiering at Sydney’s Australian Theatre for Young People in 2022, The Deb theatre production was written by Hannah Reilly and includes original songs from singer-songwriter Meg Washington.

The musical follows lovable farm girl and high school outcast Taylah Simpkins (Natalie Abbott), who is certain the upcoming Debutante Ball, nicknamed “the Deb,” is her one chance to redefine herself. When her cynical city cousin Maeve (Charlotte MacInnes) is exiled to Taylah’s drought-stricken town Dunburn, she thinks the ball is a “heteronormative shit-show” and immediately disrupts the status quo. In their search for the spotlight, Taylah and Maeve dig deep to find self-acceptance — and a date to the Deb. The film is expected to go on floors in September.