Anna Kendrick 'over the moon' to direct Evelyn Hugo as Babies bows in Zurich
Anna Kendrick is “over the moon and so excited” to direct Netflix’s film of “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.” She spoke at the Zurich Film Festival, where she attended the European premiere of Lauren Miller Rogen’s comedy “Babies,” according to Variety.
The Netflix project was announced in June. It is an adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s best-selling 2017 novel about a reclusive Hollywood star telling her life story. The script is by Liz Tigelaar, with current revisions by Francesca Sloane, and Reid is on board as executive producer, a senior role that can include creative oversight.
“Babies” brought Kendrick to Zurich. The film is directed by Lauren Miller Rogen and is loosely inspired by her and husband Seth Rogen’s real-life story. It follows a couple deciding whether or not to have children.
The job reunites Kendrick with Seth Rogen 15 years after they appeared together in Jonathan Levine’s “50/50.” The ensemble also includes Issa Rae, Dan Stevens and Kate Berlant. The festival lists the 2026 US comedy as a European Premiere, meaning its first screening in Europe, at its 22nd edition, according to the Zurich Film Festival.
Kendrick said she was “really in a panic” before her first time directing. A talk with “Pitch Perfect” co-star Brittany Snow helped calm her. Kendrick made her directing debut with “Woman of the Hour.”
She was frank about “Pitch Perfect.” The 2012 singing comedy was not a sleeper hit or box-office smash, she said, and would not have earned a sequel on ticket sales alone. It found a “second life” on HBO, the US pay-TV network, in what she called a “pre-streaming” era.
Then came the “Cup Song.” Kendrick said the studio asked her to record a full-length version and make a music video. “Cups (Pitch Perfect’s ‘When I’m Gone’)” went on to pass 2.5 million digital downloads and 600 million combined views on YouTube, and peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.
She described her “Pitch Perfect” co-stars as family. She named Snow, Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp and Hailee Steinfeld. Support in their group chat is like “Avengers, assemble” when someone shares difficult news, she said.
What makes this stand out is the chain. A small musical comedy grew through TV repeats and a viral song into a lasting ensemble. Now one of its stars returns to Zurich with a new comedy while preparing a large book adaptation for Netflix.
