Angelina Jolie Has Cast Salma Hayek as the Star of Her Next Film

Angelina Jolie has made it clear that her career pivot to directing is no joke. The 47-year-old Academy Award winner has directed four movies in recent years—the most recent of which, First They Killed My Father, was nominated for Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards. Now, Jolie is embarking on her biggest project yet. According to Variety, her next film as director, writer, and producer will star none other than Salma Hayek. Jolie has directed movie stars before—Anne Hathaway and Jude Law were among those to join her in A Place in Time, the documentary that was her directorial debut—but Without Blood will be the first time she’s done so in a feature film. It will also mark the first film to come from her major three-year production deal with Fremantle.

Like Jolie’s previous movies, Without Blood is a war drama. The plot centers around a young girl who is seeking revenge for the brutal murders of her father and brother, thereby exploring “universal truths about war, trauma, memory and healing.” Jolie plans to stay true to the 2002 best-selling novel that it’s based on, praising its author, Alessandro Baricco, for “its unique poetry and emotion and way of looking at war, and the questions it poses about what we search for after trauma or loss or injustice.” Details about Hayek’s role remain scarce, though she has been confirmed to star opposite fellow Mexican actor Demián Bichir.

In a way, we have Marvel to thank for Hayek’s casting in Without Blood: She developed a close bond with Jolie when they costarred as immortal beings in the 2021 superhero movie Eternals. “I discovered a soul sister who is similar to me in so many ways,” Hayek said of Jolie at the time. “I felt like I’d known her for my entire life. I got to know her a little better than everyone else, and it’s very precious to me.” Looks like she doesn’t harbor any hard feelings about Jolie shoving her face into her 55th birthday cake.