Blake Lively is directing her first feature film after directing Taylor Swift music video

Blake Lively rose to prominence in the early 2000s in films such as Gossip Girl and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and she has since wowed audiences in films directed by Ben Affleck, Oliver Stone, and Paul Feig. The actress’ next endeavour will be her first time directing a film, but thanks to Taylor Swift, she has a head start.

Lively directed her renowned friend Taylor Swift in the music video “I Bet You Think About Me” in November, her first time behind the camera. The video, which also featured Miles Teller, has over 37 million views and has been nominated for awards. Seconds will be directed by the actor, who has already dabbled with directing. The film will be based on the same-named graphic novel by Bryan Lee O’Malley, the author of the Scott Pilgrim series.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Blake Lively will direct Seconds from a script written by Edgar Wright, who also wrote and directed Scott Pilgrim vs. the World in 2010. Blake Lively’s directorial debut will be produced by Wright and Marc Platt, who also directed Hot Fuzz, Baby Driver, and Last Night in Soho (La La Land, Scott Pilgrim and Legally Blonde).

Seconds follows Katie, a gifted young cook who is given the ability to correct her previous mistakes by writing them down, consuming a mystical mushroom, and then sleeping. Katie becomes fascinated with her newfound abilities and uses her mushroom-filled dresser to correct every blunder she can think of in her life. This has unexpected effects that put her life, as well as the fabric of space and time, at jeopardy.

Searchlight Pictures, a studio known for producing more distinguished pictures, picked up Seconds. This was most recently demonstrated with Nightmare Alley, a Best Picture candidate, but the studio’s other films include Jojo Rabbit, Nomadland, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Black Swan. It’s impressive that Blake Lively, so early in her directing career, is already working with the acclaimed studio and Edgar Wright on Seconds.

For the first time, Lively will be a producer on the crime drama The Husband’s Secret, in which she will also feature. The film is based on the same-named Liane Moriarty novel about a suburban housewife whose life is turned upside down when she discovers a strange letter from her husband.

Blake Lively is married to Ryan Reynolds, with whom she has three children. Reynolds also transitioned from being solely an actor to writing and producing, most notably with the Deadpool films. With Seconds and presumably more upcoming films, we’ll be interested to watch how Lively forges her own path as a director.