The Weeknd, real name Abel Tesfaye, plays a musician plagued by insomnia and facing an emotional breakdown in the official trailer for the suspense thriller Hurry Up Tomorrow, the first feature film from the pop star set for a May 16 theatrical release.
The teaser, which dropped on Tuesday, sees a musician character called Abel Tesfaye pulled into an odyssey with a stranger who begins to unravel the very core of his existence, according to a synopsis from the producers.
The trailer will also feed into speculation The Weeknd in real life wants to shed his pop star persona and revert to his real name. “Call me by the familiar name,” a voice is heard to say at one point in the teaser, while in the background someone yells “Abel!”
Hurry Up Tomorrow, which also stars Jenna Ortega as Anima and Barry Keoghan as Lee, is inspired by The Weeknd’s upcoming release of a new album and tour of the same name. The album Hurry Up Tomorrow, set for a Jan. 31 release, represents the final chapter in the pop star’s trilogy after 2022’s Dawn FM and 2020’s After Hours.
Trey Edward Shults directs the film produced by The Weeknd and his indie banner Manic Phase. Shults is best known for the coming-of-age drama Waves and psychological horror It Comes At Night, both for A24. Shults, Tesfaye and his producing partner Reza Fahim penned the screenplay.
The upcoming Hurry Up Tomorrow film being tied to the new album release helps explain why Tesfaye made a surprise appearance and performance at the 2025 Grammys after he had announced three years prior that he planned to boycott the show following his 2021 snub. The pop artist performed songs from the Hurry Up Tomorrow album, including “Cry For Me” and “Timeless.”
Tesfaye also starred in and co-created the HBO drama The Idol along with Fahim and Euphoria creator Sam Levinson. Expanding beyond his music career, he earlier co-wrote and did voice work on a 2020 episode of TBS’ American Dad, and appeared in Uncut Gems.
The Hurry Up Tomorrow film is also produced by Fahim, the late Kevin Turen and Harrison Kreiss, while the executive producer credits are shared by Ortega, Shults, Michael Rapino, Ryan Kroft, Wassim “Sal” Slaiby and Harrison Huffman.
