Tom Ford’s Next Act: From Savile Row to the Grand Canal

The designer-turned-director is swapping runways for Venetian canals — again proving that good taste always finds the spotlight.

Tom Ford is back in the director’s chair, and naturally, he’s doing it in silk-lined style. Nearly a decade after Nocturnal Animals, Ford is set to direct Cry to Heaven — an adaptation of Anne Rice’s lush 1995 novel about 18th-century Venice, opera, and the tortured beauty of the castrato world. Think powdered wigs, candlelight, and scandal with perfect tailoring.

Production begins in early 2026, and insiders say Ford is already deep in development, crafting a world of decadent intrigue that could make even A Single Man look minimalist. The film, set among Venetian palazzos and echoing arias, follows Tonio — a young nobleman betrayed by family and reborn as an opera star. It’s a story soaked in obsession, artistry, and the very idea of transformation — all Ford signatures, whether in fragrance, fashion, or film.

For those keeping score, this will mark Ford’s third feature, after A Single Man (which earned Colin Firth an Oscar nomination) and the haunting Nocturnal Animals with Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal. This time, though, he’s aiming for full-blown baroque drama — all the velvet, all the vengeance, all the beauty money can buy.

Why this matters? Because Ford doesn’t just make movies — he curates them, the way one edits a collection or sets a dinner table in Palm Beach. Expect his trademark symmetry, chiaroscuro lighting, and an attention to fabric that would make even Vermeer jealous.

And of course, it’s all very on-brand: a meditation on art, identity, and reinvention, told through the most glamorous lens possible. It’s also proof that while some designers dream of couture, Tom Ford dreams in CinemaScope.

Until then, consider this your cue to dust off your opera cape — and maybe brush up on your Italian.

 Cry to Heaven begins filming in early 2026, with casting and studio details to be announced soon.