On the Coney Island Set of ‘Eleanor the Great,’ Scarlett Johansson Directs Erin Kellyman and June Squibb in Her Directorial Debut

Scarlett Johansson stepped behind the camera to helm her feature directorial debut Eleanor the Great in Brooklyn’s Coney Island neighborhood on Monday.

It was the first on-set sighting of the 39-year-old former child star directing the cast and crew of the film, which already scored a distribution deal with TriStar Pictures and Sony Pictures Classics – according to Variety.

Scarlett was working with two members of her cast – Erin Kellyman and June Squibb – for the outdoor car scene.

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The 94-year-old actress – best known for her Oscar-nominated role in Alexander Payne’s 2013 film Nebraska – plays the titular part of 90-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein, who moves back to New York City from Florida following the death of her best friend of 70 years.

First-time screenwriter Tory Kamen based the character on her late grandmother Elinore who passed away, age 99, in 2020.

Action! Scarlett Johansson stepped behind the camera to helm her feature directorial debut Eleanor the Great in Brooklyn’s Coney Island neighborhood on Monday

‘This is so beyond anything I’d hoped for this script over the last eight years of writing and rewriting and rewriting it,’ Kamen gushed last Friday on Instagram.

‘I only wish my grandma Elinore were here to see this but famously, she did not read the trades.’

The British biracial 25-year-old – best known for starring in the Disney+ 2022 series Willow – took on the role of Eleanor’s new 19-year-old friend.

And while June wore a lavender coat – Erin was wearing a beige leather blazer over a white blouse, beige sweater vest, baggy brown pants, and boots selected by costume designer Tom Broecker.

Also joining Johansson on set was her cinematographer Hélène Louvart, who previously served DP duties on Alice Rohrwacher’s 2023 film La Chimera and Eliza Hittman’s 2020 film Never Rarely Sometimes Always.

In 2022, the two-time Oscar nominee revealed on the Table for Two podcast that her future in films would involve directing and more producing, saying: ‘My ideal job is a corner office on the Disney lot. Like a little [bungalow]. That’s what I want’ 

Scarlett cast her former co-star Jessica Hecht with whom she starred in Broadway play A View From The Bridge at the Cort Theatre back in 2010, which garnered her a Tony Award.

Johansson also cast fellow Marvel action star Chiwetel Ejiofor – who starred in the two Doctor Strange movies – in a mystery role in Eleanor the Great, which Sting’s wife Trudie Styler is producing.

It was the first on-set sighting of the 39-year-old former child star directing the cast and crew of the film, which already scored a distribution deal with TriStar Pictures and Sony Pictures Classics

Scarlett was working with two members of her cast – Erin Kellyman (L) and June Squibb (R) – for the outdoor car scene

The 94-year-old Oscar nominee plays the titular part of 90-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein, who moves back to New York City from Florida following the death of her best friend of 70 years (pictured January 18)

First-time screenwriter Tory Kamen (R) based the character on her late grandmother Elinore (L) who passed away, age 99, in 2020

Kamen gushed last Friday on Instagram: ‘This is so beyond anything I’d hoped for this script over the last eight years of writing and rewriting and rewriting it. I only wish my grandma Elinore were here to see this but famously, she did not read the trades’

The British biracial 25-year-old (R) – best known for starring in the Disney+ 2022 series Willow – took on the role of Eleanor’s new 19-year-old friend

And while June wore a lavender coat – Erin was wearing a beige leather blazer over a white blouse, beige sweater vest, baggy brown pants, and boots selected by costume designer Tom Broecker

Also joining Johansson on set was her cinematographer Hélène Louvart (L), who previously served DP duties on Alice Rohrwacher’s 2023 film La Chimera and Eliza Hittman’s 2020 film Never Rarely Sometimes Always

In 2022, the two-time Oscar nominee revealed on the Table for Two podcast that her future in films would involve directing and more producing, saying: ‘My ideal job is a corner office on the Disney lot. Like a little [bungalow]. That’s what I want’

Scarlett cast her former co-star Jessica Hecht (R) with whom she starred in Broadway play A View From The Bridge at the Cort Theatre back in 2010, which garnered her a Tony Award

Johansson also cast fellow Marvel action star Chiwetel Ejiofor (pictured January 22) – who starred in the two Doctor Strange movies – in a mystery role in Eleanor the Great, which Sting’s wife Trudie Styler is producing

The Asteroid City star previously wrote and directed the 2009 short film These Vagabond Shoes starring Kevin Bacon (pictured) as well as the 2015 American Express Unstaged concert of Ellie Goulding

The Asteroid City star previously wrote and directed the 2009 short film These Vagabond Shoes starring Kevin Bacon as well as the 2015 American Express Unstaged concert of Ellie Goulding.

On February 9, Deadline reported that Scarlett will produce and star as heroin-addicted FBI informant Carol Blevins in Andrea Arnold’s upcoming true-crime thriller Featherwood.

But first, audiences can catch Johansson and Channing Tatum in Jason Bateman’s sixties-set space-race drama Project Artemis, which premieres July 12 on Apple TV+

The native New Yorker voiced Elita in Josh Cooley’s animated prequel Transformers One, which hits US theaters September 13.

Scarlett also played Royal Navy captain Katherine in Kristin Scott Thomas’ feature directorial debut North Star, which failed to score a distribution deal after premiering at the Toronto Film Festival on September 7.

On the personal front, Johansson has two children – daughter Rose, 9; and son Cosmo, 2 – from her marriages to ex-husband #2 Romain Dauriac and third husband Colin Jost.