What happened to Xavier Dolan? Everything you need to know about the future projects of the Canadian director, screenwriter, and actor

What happened to Xavier Dolan? It’s a legitimate question, especially since we haven’t heard much about him recently - and even more so after the Canadian artist shared the script of his new project on his Instagram profile on January 1. Just in time to kick off 2026, which the director, screenwriter, and actor says he welcomes «with open arms.» The title is still unknown, and even in the photo it has been obscured. It is likely the horror project Dolan announced back in 2024, set in late 19th-century France, with Mont Saint-Michel as its location.

The Prodigy of Cinema

Whether Xavier Dolan’s plans have changed in the meantime remains unknown - for now, at least. What is certain is the great curiosity surrounding the return of a child prodigy who paused his filmmaking career in 2019 and, about three years ago, sparked discussions about the disappointments the entertainment industry can bring. Dolan had announced in an interview with El País that he would step back, disheartened by his failure to successfully export the five-part miniseries he worked on, released in 2022, La Nuit où Laurier Gaudreault s'est réveillé, even recounting financial struggles that forced him to borrow money from his father.

Dolan’s outburst received mixed reactions from the public, but despite his frustration, he decided to return to directing four years after the miniseries and, more importantly, seven years after his last feature film, Matthias & Maxime (2019). Even his latest film was not as acclaimed as his successes from a decade earlier, but it fared better than the harsh criticism received by My Life with John F. Donovan, his first English-language project. Matthias & Maxime still revealed the Dolan we know, who had been slightly overshadowed by the messy actor portrayed by Kit Harington in the previous film.

What Can We Expect?

So, what new direction will the Canadian director take in his cinema? According to statements made in 2024, Xavier Dolan may have converted and transformed his reflections into artistic material for his horror story. The themes he mentioned included the fear of rejection and creative struggles - elements that connect easily with his personal experience and that he could exorcise through the making of the film.

Over the years, however, Xavier Dolan has not been idle. Beyond La Nuit où Laurier Gaudreault s'est réveillé, in which he also appears as an actor (and editor, as in much of his work), he directed Adele’s Easy On Me music video and acted in several national and international productions. He appeared in Xavier Giannoli’s adaptation of Illusions Perdues at the Venice Film Festival in 2021, and in 2025 starred in Lo sconosciuto del Grande Arco, a story about architect Johann Otto von Spreckelsen, creator of Paris’s “Cube,” premiered at Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival. Additionally, his IMDB page shows an impressive list of celebrities he has voiced, from Timothée Chalamet in Dune to Josh Hutcherson in Five Nights at Freddy’s, and Nicholas Hoult in Renfield, not to mention animated films like Inside Out, where he voiced Fear.

Despite his many endeavors, it is behind the camera that most people await him. His next project is certain to be highly anticipated once it is ready for audiences. As a side note, few may remember that François Arnaud, who is now shaking up the entertainment scene with Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie in the hit series Heated Rivalry, was launched by Dolan in cinema with his debut J'ai tué ma mère (2009). Who knows what discoveries the director will bring next - maybe even appearing in the second season of Jacob Tierney’s show.