Adele to make her acting debut in Tom Ford’s film about ‘castrati’ singers

British superstar Adele will make her screen debut in Cry to Heaven, the next film by fashion-designer-turned-filmmaker Tom Ford, based on Anne Rice’s 1982 novel about 18th-century castrati singers.

After wrapping up her celebrated Las Vegas residency in November 2024, Adele is stepping away from music — for now — to take on a new creative challenge: acting.

Ford, who will direct, produce and write the film, is adapting Rice’s historical novel, which tells the intertwined stories of two young men castrated to preserve their angelic singing voices, who later become opera stars in Venice.

The film’s all-star cast includes Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Colin Firth, Paul Bettany, Owen Cooper, Thandiwe Newton, Hunter Schafer, Ciarán Hinds, Mark Strong and George MacKay.

Adele’s role has not yet been disclosed, but sources suggest it will be a “key dramatic part.” The singer previously said she wanted “a big break” after her run of shows to “do other creative things for a while.”

Tom Ford, who sold his fashion house to Estée Lauder for $2.8 billion in 2022, confirmed his focus is now entirely on filmmaking. “I loved making the two films I did — that was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life,” he told GQ.