Blake Lively to adapt Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Seconds for her directorial debut

Blake Lively is gearing up for her first feature-length stint in the director’s chair. It was announced that the Gossip Girl star will make her feature directorial debut with an adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel, Seconds.

According to a report in The Hollywood Reporter, the film, which will be backed by Searchlight, will have Edgar Wright on as the scriptwriter. Wright, whose popular works include Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Baby Driver (2017), had also helmed Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010). The 2010 film is based on O’Malley’s popular Scott Pilgrim graphic novels. The cult film, which can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video, stars Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick and Brie Larson, among others.

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Wright will also be a producer on the project along with Academy Award-nominated producer Marc Platt, who was a producer of The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020).

Seconds revolves around the story of Katie Clay, the owner of the titular restaurant. One day, she is granted the ability to fix her past mistakes, using mushrooms and a notebook. Despite warnings, Katie makes excessive use of her newfound gift, trying to erase all her mistakes to make her life as perfect as possible. Soon her actions catch up with her and lead to chaos.

Last year, Lively directed the music video of Taylor Swift’s song, I Bet You Think About Me. The video had earned her nominations at the Academy of Country Music Awards this year, both as a producer and director. As an actress, her last film performance came in the 2020 action thriller, The Rhythm Section, which also stars Jude Law and Sterling K. Brown in pivotal roles. The film is available on Apple TV.