What would you do if you found out that a giant comet was heading rapidly towards planet Earth? In Don’t Look Up, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence co-star as a pair of astronomers who discover just that. Their next step is to head out on a media tour to warn the rest of humanity that the collision is due to happen in six months’ time. The only difficulty is: No one else seems to care about their findings. Ahead of the satirical comedy’s release on Netflix on December 24, here’s everything you need to know.
It has one of the most stacked ensemble casts in cinematic history
Lawrence returns to the big screen as Kate Dibiasky, an astronomy grad student, and DiCaprio plays her professor Dr. Randall Mindy. Meanwhile, Meryl Streep appears as Janie Orlean, the U.S. president who is skeptical about the imminent end of the world. There’s also Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry as Brie and Jack, the hosts of peppy morning show The Daily Rip; Rob Morgan as the helpful scientist Dr. Oglethorpe; and Jonah Hill as the president’s sycophantic son and chief of staff, Jason. Other familiar faces worth looking out for? Chris Evans, Matthew Perry, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Kid Cudi, Himesh Patel, and Mark Rylance.
Cate Blanchett, Tyler Perry, DiCaprio, and Lawrence in Don’t Look Up
Photo: Niko Tavernise/Netflix
Adam McKay takes the reins for the first time since Vice
Adam McKay, who helmed 2015’s The Big Short and is one of the executive producers of Succession, has written and directed Don’t Look Up. His last stint behind the camera was for Vice, the 2018 biopic that starred Christian Bale as Dick Cheney. “I’ve known Jennifer for a good while now,” McKay told Entertainment Weekly in September of his lead actor. “One of the first meetings she ever took in Los Angeles was with me. I’ve been a giant fan [of hers] since she first came on the scene and she just straight up makes me laugh. So I wrote this role for her. She was the first actor in. Leo was interested and then the pandemic hit. So, we used a lot of the time during the pandemic to just go through the script and talk about his character.”
DiCaprio added, “Adam has an unparalleled ability to spark conversation with humor and timely stories. I knew when I read his script that it was incredibly unique, as it struck an important chord concerning the modern world we live in. Adam has woven an incredibly timely message about society, how we communicate, our current priorities, and the climate crisis into an absurdly funny yet important movie.” And as for Streep’s take on the commander in chief? “She’s very concerned about the poll numbers, very concerned about the politics, loves her own celebrity,” says McKay of the character. “She’s a hybrid of all the ridiculous leaders that we’ve had for the past 10, 20, 30 years.”
Timothée Chalamet in Don’t Look Up
Photo: Niko Tavernise/Netflix
The trailer is as stressful as it is hilarious
The first teaser trailer for the film was released on September 8 and featured DiCaprio’s Randall Mindy having a panic attack in a bathroom and Lawrence’s Kate Dibiasky hitting the wine at lunch as they attempt to process the catastrophic news about the comet. “This will affect the entire planet,” the former then tells Streep’s president Orlean. “Do you know how many the-world-is-ending meetings we’ve had over the last two years?” she replies in a distinctly Miranda Priestly tone, while Hill’s Jason warns DiCaprio, “Your breathing is stressing me out.”
On September 25, a clip followed, showing DiCaprio and Lawrence in the Oval Office trying to explain the situation to a disinterested Hill and Streep. The latter immediately reframes the facts and moves on, saying, “We’re going to get our own scientists on this.” Hill and Lawrence then get into a tense (and side-splitting) back and forth, after which the president delivers her final verdict: “Sit tight and assess.”
The film’s release date positions it perfectly for awards season
Don’t Look Up will be in theaters from December 10 and available to stream via Netflix from December 24.
Editor
Hayley Maitland and Radhika SethCredit
Lead image: Niko Tavernise/Netflix
