COMING ATTRACTIONS

Meryl Streep Is Heading Back to HBO

Streep is set to star alongside Lucas Hedges and Gemma Chan in an HBO Max film directed by Steven Soderbergh.

by Brooke Marine

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She may be finished terrorizing the moms of Monterey as Mary Louise Wright in Big Little Lies, but Meryl Streep is not done with HBO yet. Well, sort of.

Technically, she’ll be starring in an HBO Max film, and you shouldn’t be fooled by the name of the network; it really doesn’t have much to do with HBO and is an entirely separate streaming service operated by WarnerMedia Entertainment. Still, if you were ambivalent about the introduction of HBO Max to your repertoire of streaming platforms to keep up with, you will probably be paying closer attention now that the latest addition to the platform’s slate of upcoming projects involves Streep.

The most recent acquisition for the growing HBO Max roster comes in the form of a film by Steven Soderbergh. The director has partnered up with the WarnerMedia Entertainment streaming platform for Let Them Talk (which is a working title), a comedy based on a script from Deborah Eisenberg about an author who takes a cruise with some of her close friends. Streep plays the author in question, while the friends will be played by Candice Bergen and Dianne Wiest.

Once aboard the cruise—which will take place on the Queen Mary 2, according to a press release from HBO Max—the author’s nephew, played by Lucas Hedges, becomes romantically involved with a literary agent played by Gemma Chan. The film has reportedly already begun shooting in New York, and will travel across the pond to the United Kingdom at some point during the production.

Gone are the days where it would be a surprise for someone with as much Hollywood clout as Streep to pivot to prestige streaming platforms. After her arc on Big Little Lies, it was announced that she will star in Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of The Prom for Netflix with Nicole Kidman. And besides, it’s practically what is expected of anyone with at least a couple of Oscar nominations in Hollywood to do these days, anyway. (Just look at Cate Blanchett or Laura Dern if you need more proof).

Eager to compete with Disney+, Apple TV+, and Netflix (by snatching up Friends), HBO Max will launch in spring 2020, and already has a slew of content on the roster. The network has also secured deals with Reese Witherspoon‘s Hello Sunshine production company, which will produce at least two original films, and Greg Berlanti, who is in talks to produce at least four films.

Let Them Talk is just one of many recent additions to the lineup, which already has a spot for the Gossip Girl reboot, an animated Gremlins series, and a drama series executive produced by Kidman called Crime Farm. HBO Max will also host some exclusive licensed content from the libraries of HBO, TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, CNN, and some of The CW. So, if you want to catch up on the soon to be released Batwoman and Katy Keene, HBO Max will be the place to do that, and ifyou want to re-watch Pretty Little Liars or The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, you can do that here, too.

Related: Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman To Star in Netflix’s The Prom