Jessica Chastain is back in Scream Queen territory, playing dual roles in the much buzzed-about horror Other Mommy.

The film, based on Josh Malerman‘s 2024 novel Incidents Around the House, follows a family whose house is haunted by a sinister entity that looks and sounds identical to the mother, with both versions played by the star.

Chastain, whose resumé includes horror films It Chapter Two, Mama and Crimson Peak, has a deep love of the genre, recalling at the new movie’s Los Angeles premiere on Thursday that “when I was a kid going to the movies, it was very rare to see a female character that I looked up to. And then I realized that the horror genre had a lot of incredibly strong women that I could recognize as the women around me in my life. Usually the women defeat the monsters in the genre, they’re the heroes, and the other genres that I grew up with I didn’t see that.”

In the months leading up to its release, Other Mommy has gotten lots of attention online for its campy title and premise, as well as its major jump scares — which were first on display when the trailer debuted in theaters in front of The Odyssey, spooking plenty of moviegoers who were not prepared for the horror moment.

“I got really funny texts from my friends and family who went to go see The Odyssey, because I have a lot of friends who love to go to the cinema, so it was really funny,” Chastain noted of the trailer’s viral impact.

Director Rob Savage also weighed in on that unexpected tie-in, revealing, “The thing that was so insane about launching in front of The Odyssey was the movie was far from finished. My phone was blowing up and we were there in the color grade, in the mix, approving VFX shots, being like, ‘Are we going to make release?’ Working for 18 hours a day to get it done. So it was a nice shot in the arm but it was also like, ‘We better have a movie at the end of it.’”

And despite the attention it has brought, the original title of the film was actually not Other Mommy, but Incidents Around the House to line up with the book. Savage — while lamenting how the internet was “annoyed it wasn’t Other Mother” — explained of the change that Other Mommy was simply “a better title,” and “if we’re trying to create the next iconic horror villain, that’s gotta be the foot you lead with.”

The film has faced some harsh reviews but is still set for a big weekend at the box office, opening against Aaron Sorkin‘s The Social Reckoning. Chastain starred in Sorkin’s 2017 film Molly’s Game and is also close friends with Social Reckoning star Jeremy Strong (who takes over from Jesse Eisenberg in the Mark Zuckerberg role), so is she feeling any competition as the two movies debut?

“The funny thing is actually Aaron wrote me an email, he’s the one who brought it to my attention. I don’t know if you know this, he’s a bit of a wordsmith, and he sent me a very fun email about it, that we were going head to head. But no competition,” she teased, though is open to a Barbenheimer-style collaboration. “Can we get Zuck in Other Mommy, doing press together?”

Other Mommy is now playing in theaters.

EXCLUSIVE: Miles & Juliette, the new feature from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Bill Pohlad and his River Road Entertainment, has started production in Paris. The film stars Damson Idris as Miles Davis and Anamaria Vartolomei as Juliette Gréco.

Joining Idris and Vartolomei are J. Alphonse Nicholson as Kenny “Klook” Clarke, Jay Reeves as Tadd Dameron, Grammy-winning musician and producer Terrace Martin as Charlie “Bird” Parker; Denny Love as James Moody, Lodric D. Collins as Max Roach, and Hubert Point-Du Jour as John Coltrane.

A first look image has also been released which can see below:

Written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Zora Howard, Miles & Juliette tells the story of a 22-year-old Miles Davis on a transformative trip to Paris in 1949, where he meets and falls in love with Juliette Gréco, the French singer and actress then emerging as the face of the postwar Left Bank.

Set amid the creative ferment of Paris at a turning point in music and culture, the film traces the bond between two young artists in the years before the world knew their names. For Davis, the trip marked his first journey outside the United States and placed him among a remarkable circle of musicians, artists and intellectuals at a formative moment in his life and career.

“I’ve been captivated by the idea of telling this story—a fleeting encounter between two extraordinary young artists that becomes something neither of them could have imagined,” said Pohlad. “There’s something deeply cinematic about that kind of love: the music, the city, the artists, and the moment in time. Watching Miles & Juliette come to life with this remarkable cast and crew is a dream come true.”

Pohlad previously explored the life and creative legacy of another visionary American musician in the critically acclaimed Brian Wilson film Love & Mercy, starring Paul Dano, John Cusack, Elizabeth Banks and Paul Giamatti.

Pohlad is producing with Andrew Van Wyk for River Road, alongside Kim Roth and Dan Clifton. Mick Jagger and Victoria Pearman are producing for Jagged Films.

Pascal Caucheteux’s Why Not Productions serves as the French production services company. Executive producers include Mike Overman for River Road and Darryl Porter, Erin Davis, Cheryl Davis, and Vincent Wilburn Jr for the Miles Davis estate.

The filmmaking team includes acclaimed cinematographer Maryse Alberti, production designer Dan Weil, editor Sabine Hoffman and Grammy-winning musician Robert Glasper, who serves as composer and music producer. Glasper, whose work has long bridged jazz, hip-hop, R&B and contemporary music, has frequently cited Davis as a foundational influence and previously served as producer on the 2016 Miles Davis tribute album Everything’s Beautiful.

CAA Media Finance is handling North American rights.