Annette Trailer: Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard Sing Their Way Through Parenting

The hype surrounding the returning Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off in just two weeks, is ever-growing—in part thanks to the musical Annette, one of the headliners finally seeing the light of day after months of pandemic-related delays. And if you were a fan of Adam Driver’s Sondheim rendition in Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, you’re especially in for a treat. Driver “is singing more often than he’s not singing,” according to a source close to the band Sparks, which wrote the screenplay with director Leos Carax. The same apparently goes for Driver’s costar, Marion Cotillard.

The musical stars Driver as Henry, a standup comedian who meets and falls in love with Ann, a renowned opera singer played by Cotillard. (Rihanna was initially interested in the latter role.) From the look of the trailer that dropped on Tuesday, it isn’t long before he’s head over heels. Soon, Ann gives birth to the titular baby, who turns out to have an “exceptional destiny” and mysterious gift. And then, for reasons that remain unclear, Henry is bused off to L.A. County Jail, escorted by a crowd toting signs with slogans like “stop genocide.” Things may take a turn for the worse, but for the most part, Annette seems to be a lighter romance than Marriage Story, with a catchy soundtrack to boot.

The trailer barely offers a glimpse of either star actually singing, but you can already hear what they’ll sound like before the film hits theaters on August 6 and starts streaming on Amazon Prime on August 20. Carax recently released “So May We Start,” one of the many Driver, Cotillard, and Sparks collabs that soundtrack his English-language debut.