The Daniels made Everything Everywhere All at Once, and if you saw it, you already know what I mean when I say it is one of those rare films people describe not by its plot but by what it did to them. It cracked something open in the multiverse genre that nobody else has been able to replicate. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert took a mid budget A24 film and turned it into an Oscar sweep. That does not happen by accident.
Now they are building their next project at Universal, and the ensemble they are assembling already feels like it could rival what they pulled off with Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Stephanie Hsu.
Sean Kaufman, who broke out in The Summer I Turned Pretty, has entered talks to lead the younger ensemble. If you have not seen him in that show, he has a naturalism that is hard to fake. He plays emotional beats without overselling them, which is exactly the kind of actor the Daniels tend to gravitate toward. They like performers who can pivot from absurdity to devastation in the same scene.
He joins Matt Damon, Sandra Oh, and Charles Melton. That is a stacked lineup on paper, but what makes it interesting is the range. Damon brings the gravity. Sandra Oh brings the precision. Melton showed in Past Lives that he can carry quiet, complicated energy without saying much at all. And now you have Kaufman anchoring whatever the younger side of this story looks like.
Universal has set a November 19, 2027 release date, which tells you they see this as an event film. That is a prime awards corridor slot, the kind of date studios reserve for movies they believe can perform commercially and still end up in the conversation come January. Universal clearly thinks the Daniels can do it again.
I think they might be right. Everything Everywhere worked because it was simultaneously a family drama, a martial arts film, a sci fi comedy, and a genuinely moving story about generational trauma. Whatever the Daniels are cooking next, they have earned the benefit of the doubt. They are one of maybe three or four directing teams working right now who I would trust with this kind of ensemble and this kind of ambition.
If you have not seen Everything Everywhere All at Once, go watch it before any trailer drops for this new project. You need to understand what these directors do with ensemble dynamics before you can fully appreciate what they are about to attempt. The fact that they pulled it off once already is remarkable. The fact that Universal is betting they can do it at an even bigger scale is the most exciting studio play of 2027.
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