Adele has spent this year on hiatus after her epic Las Vegas residency. For the foreseeable future, she declared she’s done with touring, done with interviews, done with anything that required more than a tracksuit and a cuppa.
But it turns out, the woman who gave us Hello couldn’t hang up one call - this time, from Tom Ford.
The designer-turned-director has pulled her out of semi-retirement for Cry to Heaven, an 18th-century epic dripping in lace, betrayal.
It’s Ford’s first film in almost a decade and Adele’s first, ever. The story, adapted from Anne Rice’s Venetian opera novel, centres on a nobleman and a castrated singer trying to survive the melodrama of art, love and revenge. Naturally, Ford is expected has turned it into couture cinema - the kind where heartbreak comes accessorised.
Filming starts early next year between London and Rome, and the cast list reads like a particularly glamorous seating chart at the BAFTAs: Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Colin Firth, Ciarán Hinds, George MacKay, Thandiwe Newton, Mark Strong, Paul Bettany, and, because Ford doesn’t do “small” - Adele herself.
The singer’s role is under wraps, but it’s believed, according to Deadline, that it won’t be just belting out a soundtrack, but for this Brits school graduate some actual acting.
Ford’s team has called it “an exploration of identity, betrayal and artistic freedom”, which, frankly, could describe any Adele album.
For Ford, who famously whipped the Gucci brand into shape, it’s a return to form after selling his fashion empire to Estée Lauder in 2023 for $2.8 billion (£2.4 billion). Since then, he’s been suspiciously quiet. His debut, A Single Man, gave Colin Firth an Oscar nod and a Venice win.
His second, Nocturnal Animals, turned Aaron Taylor-Johnson into a Golden Globe winner and made audiences fear anyone with good bone structure and a pickup truck.
So when Ford says he’s back, writing, directing and financing Cry to Heaven himself, Hollywood listens.
For her part, Adele has long flirted with the idea of acting, but only if the right project came along. Hollywood bosses have noticed that she has a charisma - the smoky voice, the quick wit... In a Tom Ford world, that translates perfectly: a little glamour, a little pain, a lot of eyeliner.
It’s also a shrewd career move. Much like Lady Gaga who moved from Vegas residencies to Oscars red carpets. And unlike her peers who film perfume ads disguised as passion projects, Adele, 37, is going for the full cinematic plunge under Ford’s direction.
Ford, who has had Venice film festival wins, return with this deliriously A-list cast - feels like the return of a particular kind of cinema: chic and serious and perhaps the sort of cultural moment that practically writes its own Oscar campaign.
For now, Ford’s team is keeping details tight, filming is set for January, and Cry to Heaven is expected to hit screens next autumn. One thing’s certain: Adele may be done with touring, but she’s clearly not done with the spotlight.
And if you’re going to make a comeback, you might as well do it in Tom Ford.
