Andy and Flo before Annette?

Andy Samberg and Florence Pugh were photographed in Brooklyn yesterday and according to the paps, they’re working on a film called 42.6 Years.

This project has been in development for years and is finally going into production, with some casting changes. It’s a sci-fi romantic comedy about a man who is cryogenically frozen for 42.6 years and tries to reconnect with his ex-girlfriend; he hasn’t changed… but she’s been living her life the whole time.

Originally it was Jean Smart who was going to play the girlfriend – and that pairing, her comedic timing and his comedic timing, would have been so good, only it took so long to come together, presumably the schedules didn’t line up. So now Annette Bening is stepping into the role. Changes the vibe but the intrigue is definitely still there. Is Flo the younger version of Annette? If they are casting for a younger version of Annette, whether it’s Flo or not, this is reassuring – because nobody needs them to be AI-ing Annette Bening in all the scenes. I’ve been running a low-grade Andy Samberg problem for years. Watching him with both Annette and Flo might turn that into a full-blown fever.

Florence has been quiet for a minute since Thunderbolts* last year after a steady streak in the spotlight in the few years leading up to it. But she has a pretty busy fall lined up with three major releases. Zoe Kazan’s East of Eden is coming soon to Netflix. Given the adaptation and the family and Hollywood legacy here, there will be a lot of interest in that series.

And then, at the box office, two monster projects with high-profile ensembles – Dune 3 and Avengers: Doomsday, both of them coming out on the same day, December 18, the two biggest holiday season blockbusters. So Flo will be very, very visible during the back half of this year, not unlike 2026 for Zendaya (who is in Dune 3 as well) and Anne Hathaway. Florence Pugh has the career that Sydney Sweeney thinks she deserves.