Jacob Tremblay

As the director of the poorly-reviewed but highly lucrative Jurassic World and slated helmer for Star Wars: Episode IX, Colin Trevorrow has become Hollywood’s new go-to guy for massive franchises. But when he’s not somehow making dinosaurs boring or giving Star Wars fans nervous breakdowns, Trevorrow likes to reconnect with his roots in the indie world, where he first got his start as the man behind the middling sci-fi/romcom Safety Not Guaranteed. As a little breather between studio tentpoles, Trevorrow’s going back to basics with another small-scale, small-town adventure. And this time, he’s got an adorable secret weapon.

Sometime over the last couple of months, writer-director Shane Black slipped onto Twitter without very many people noticing. While admittedly a bit of a neophyte when it comes to social media, Black has immediately grasped the most important aspects of the platform. You know, sharing funny tweets, complaining about politicians, taking pictures of his dogs, and, oh yeah, throwing out exclusive content from the set of his long-anticipated Predator sequel. You know, just normal, everyday Twitter stuff.

We know one thing, Shane Black‘s The Predator will have some serious cuteness. Room star Jacob Tremblay is the latest actor to join the sci-fi film, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and this movie is only sounding better and better.

After Colin Trevorrow finished work on Jurassic World and before he starts on Star Wars: Episode IX, he took on a smaller-scale project called The Book of Henry. The plot is pretty mysterious: it involves a single mother taking care of her son who just so happens to be a supergenius. A ton of talent is attached to the picture, including Naomi Watts, Room’s Jacob Tremblay, Lee Pace, Sarah Silverman, Breaking Bad’s Dean Norris, and Sia’s dancing doppelganger Maddie Ziegler. If that’s not enough to catch your interest, Michael Giacchino will be composing the score. The first poster for the film was released today, and it looks certifiably Da Vincian.

Jacob Tremblay has had it with your “aww”s and dumb baby noises. He will not conform to society’s expectations of what an adorable child actor should be. He will not be boxed in by your precious stereotypes. The star of Room is determined to shatter his Cute Kid persona before the adhesive on that label even has a chance to dry, as evidenced by the trailer for Shut In (the anti-Room, if you will), Tremblay’s latest attempt at defying twee norms.

If horror films have taught us anything over the last several decades, it’s this: Children are creepy as hell. Such is the case in the trailer for Before I Wake, the new film from Oculus director Mike Flanagan, who takes that adorable kid from Room and turns him into a parent’s worst nightmare — literally.

What exactly separates a lead role from a supporting one? Some argue screen time. Some say it’s the extent to which a character carries a film. And when it comes to the studios’ opinion, the actor with the bigger name tends to get campaigned as lead despite a co-star’s equal-if-not-greater-than prominence in the film. But the lack of strict guidelines in Oscar categories and the unusual number of performances that challenge typical categorization this year have led to a lot of talk about category fraud, two words you’ve probably heard a lot this year.

Jacob Tremblay, currently earning rave reviews for his performance alongside Brie Larson in Room, is currently filming Book of Henry, the next movie from Jurassic World director Colin Trevorror, who just so happens to be directing Star Wars: Episode 9. This is not lost on Tremblay who, by his own admission, is a huge Star Wars fan and has said that if he wasn’t an actor, he’d want to be a Jedi (aww).