Video: Watch the First Trailer for THE DEBUT Starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti
The movie will hit theaters this fall.
The first trailer is here for The Debut, Jesse Eisenberg’s forthcoming musical comedy starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti. In addition to directing the A24 feature, Eisenberg wrote the screenplay, original songs, and also stars in the film. The official release date has not been set, though the trailer promises the film is coming this fall.
As BroadwayWorld previously reported, The Debut follows a timid woman (Moore) who is unexpectedly cast in a community theater production of an original musical. After joining the production, she finds herself lost under the spell of her character and the domineering director (Giamatti).
The trailer introduces Paul Giamatti’s role as the intimidating director, dubbed by one character as “basically the biggest name in New Jersey community theater.” Also previewed is Moore’s journey from rehearsal to opening night, matching the director’s relentless demands for perfection with a resilient and strong-willed spirit.
The cast for the film includes Broadway legend Bernadette Peters, and though her face doesn’t appear in the trailer, we can spot those familiar, red curls from a block away. Also featured are The Little Mermaid star Halle Bailey, Cara Buono, Tony Award-nominee Craig Bierko, and Eldar Isgandarov. Viewers can also spot K. Todd Freeman as a rehearsal pianist. The Drama Desk winner is currently starring in the Tony-winning Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman.
Havana Rose Liu (Bottoms, off-Broadway's All Nighter), Tony Award-winner Bonnie Milligan, Dear Evan Hanson's Colton Ryan, Lilli Cooper (Off-Broadway's The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Spring Awakening), and Maulik Pancholy (30 Rock, Phineas and Ferb) round out the movie’s ensemble.
Eisenberg produces The Debut, alongside Emma Stone, Dave McCary, and Ali Herting. Music supervision was done by Steven Gizicki, with Bill Sherman as the executive music producer. Hamilton's Andy Blankenbuehler was the choreographer for the film.
Most recently, Eisenberg wrote, directed, and starred in the 2024 dramedy A Real Pain alongside Kieran Culkin. Eisenberg made his television debut with the short-lived comedy-drama series Get Real (1999–2000). Following his first leading role in the film Roger Dodger (2002), he appeared in the films The Village (2004) and The Squid and the Whale (2005) and led the 2009 comedies Adventureland and Zombieland. He gained wider recognition for starring as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in David Fincher's film The Social Network (2010), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Eisenberg's playwriting credits include The Revisionist, The Spoils, and Happy Talk. Stage acting credits include Summer and Smoke (1996), The Gathering (1999), Orphans (2005), Scarcity (2007), The Final Interrogation of Ceausescu's Dog (2015), A Little Part of All of Us (2015), The Blizzard (2016), Oh, Hello (2016), The Peopel Speak (2017), Shoshana and Her Lovers (2017), as well as The 24-Hour Plays on Broadway.
