Dakota Johnson Reuniting With Her Underrated 85% Fresh Rom-Com Co-Star for New Movie (But There’s a Catch)

Dakota Johnson is reuniting with her Cha Cha Real Smooth co-star Vanessa Burghardt for a new movie. However, unlike the 2022 rom-com/drama movie, neither actor is currently expected to appear in front of the camera for the project.

According to Deadline, Johnson revealed at the Kering Women in Motion conversation event at Cannes that she plans on making her feature directorial debut with the untitled movie, the screenplay of which was written by Burghardt. “The girl that plays my daughter, Vanessa Burghardt, she is an autistic actress and musician and brilliant person, and we have been working with her on developing a script. She’s written a script, and it’s really special, and it’s about a young woman with autism,” Johnson shared. “I feel very protective of her and her story in her mind, she’s just an unbelievable woman. I just don’t think I could allow anyone else to direct it. So we’ll see.”

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Cha Cha Real Smooth was produced by TeaTime Pictures, Johnson’s production company that she founded with Ro Donnelly. The 2022 romantic comedy drama film was written and directed by Cooper Raiff, who also starred as its lead character, a 22-year-old college graduate who starts making money as a party starter while also striking up a relationship with a 32-year-old mother, played by Johnson. Cha Cha Real Smooth was released on Apple TV+ and earned positive reviews from critics, with review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes noting an approval rating of 85 percent.

Dakota Johnson Is the Latest Actor to Move Behind the Camera

Johnson is the latest actor to try her hand at directing. Her first directorial effort, the 2024 short film Loser Baby, premiered last fall at the Toronto International Film Festival. The short was a proof of concept for a potential television series that was not picked up, much to Johnson’s disappointment. “It’s a short film about queer friends living in Los Angeles and their relationships and their complications and their friendships and their sexuality and their identity, and nobody wanted to f–king make it,” she shared. “And I was like, ‘Why? That’s such a global conversation, and it should be talked about all the time,’ but whatever. So it was a proof of concept that just is sitting there, proofing.”

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Despite her burgeoning interest in directing, Johnson will still be seen in front of the camera. She is currently at Cannes promoting the comedy film Splitsville, which she co-produced and in which she stars as a woman in an open relationship who tries to help a male friend recover from a breakup. The movie also stars Michael Angelo Covino (who also directed the picture) and Adria Arjona.

However, with Splitsville not set to be released in theaters until August by Neon, the next movie that Johnson’s fans will be able to see her in will be Celine Song’s Materialists, which arrives in June. The rom-com sees Johnson’s New York matchmaker character caught in a love triangle between a new love interest (Pedro Pascal) and an old flame (Chris Evans). Looking further ahead, Johnson is part of the ensemble cast for the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s Verity, which will be released by Amazon MGM Studios in Summer 2026.

Source: Deadline

Cha Cha Real Smooth

Release Date

January 23, 2022

Runtime

107 minutes

Director

Cooper Raiff

Writers

Cooper Raiff

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