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Netflix comedy lures box-office victim Jennifer Lawrence out of retirement

Jennifer Lawrence at the June 2019 premiere of Dark Phoenix in Hollywood.

Jennifer Lawrence at the June 2019 premiere of Dark Phoenix in Hollywood. Photo: Getty

At the ripe old age of 29, Jennifer Lawrence is set to come out of a two-year ‘retirement’ for a new Netflix comedy with director Adam McKay.

Don’t Look Up will star Lawrence – hoping to shake off a losing box office streak – as one of two astronomers on a global media tour to warn the world about a fast-approaching asteroid.

McKay, who earned critical acclaim for directing The Big Short and Vice, spoke highly of Lawrence’s multifaceted acting abilities.

“She’s what folks in the 17th century used to call ‘a dynamite act’,” he said, presumably making a joke because dynamite wasn’t invented until 1867.

“And the fact that Netflix sees this movie as a worldwide comedy sets the bar high for me and my team in an exciting and motivating way.”

Lawrence dominated screens and headlines after her emergence as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games series, topping Forbes’ list of highest-paid actresses in 2015 and 2016.The series’ final instalment, Mockingjay – Part Two, was her last big box-office earner, pulling in $US658 million.

She solidified her status as a Hollywood superstar and honed a dry comedic style alongside Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook, earning her an Oscar.

Jennifer Lawrence

JLaw famously tripped up the stairs when accepting her Oscar. Photo: Getty

The four-time nominee seemed unstoppable until a number of low-earning films slowed her meteoric rise (pun intended).

The weird, unsettling horror film Mother! earned more recognition for the number of people who left halfway through than it did for cinematic merit. But the real horror show was Lawrence’s Russian accent in spy flick Red Sparrow.

Sci-fi film Passengers with Chris Pratt also fell flat among critics and audiences alike, to say nothing of Dark Phoenix. The latest X-Men film was the least successful of the franchise.

Jennifer Lawrence

Lawrence reprised her role as Mystique for latest X-Men flop. Photo: AAP

After reportedly retiring in February 2018 and marrying art gallery director Cooke Maroney in late 2019, the star who once saturated headlines seemed to quietly retreat from the public eye.

In a conversation with Adam Sandler for Variety, Lawrence discussed her disappointment when her latest films received negative reviews.

“It’s so bizarre because you’re so in the zone,” she said.

“You put your whole soul and body, you move to shoot a movie, and you then love it, obviously because you wouldn’t be there if you didn’t love it, and then people just destroy it,”

Cooke Maroney Jennifer Lawrence

“I just met Cooke and I wanted to marry him,” the star said of her husband. Photo: Instagram

Perhaps a switch to the streaming giant might be the light at the end of a dark tunnel of box-office flops.

JLaw appears to be following in the footsteps of many other A-listers who have ditched the silver screen for the laptop screen.

Ryan Reynolds (6 Underground), Sandra Bullock (Bird Box) and Jennifer Aniston (Murder Mystery) have all recently starred in projects Netflix has hailed as successful, although the streamer doesn’t release ratings.

Adam Sandler also signed on to do four more films for a mouth-watering $US250 million, while Winona Ryder reignited her career in the supernatural smash hit series Stranger Things.

Meanwhile stars of the 80s, including Molly Ringwald, John Stamos, Sean Astin and the late Luke Perry, were all also able to recharge their careers on the streaming service.

Production for Don’t Look Up will is due to start in April and the film is expected to be released later this year.

Topics: Netflix
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