Patty Jenkins has described Chris Pine’s upcoming directorial debut Poolman as “a masterpiece”.

On the set of Wonder Woman 1984 in 2018, the actor shared with his director that he had an idea about making a movie about a pool cleaner named Darren Barrenman. Around the same time, she told him that he seemed uninspired and suggested doing “something else on these tentpoles besides wait(ing) in your trailer”.

Pine eventually put pen to paper and wrote his pool cleaner idea with his longtime friend Ian Gotler during lockdown in 2020. When he sent Jenkins his first draft, she was blown away by the script.

“It was a f**king masterpiece,” she told Esquire. “I couldn’t f**king believe it.”

The Monster filmmaker subsequently came onboard as a producer and Pine decided to star and direct the project too, with him noting that he “couldn’t imagine (the script) being directed by anyone else”.

Jenkins continued to heap praise on Pine, insisting Poolman marks the debut of “a big-time, prolific director”.

She added, “This guy is not going to stop. This is so who he is. I think he might be more of a writer-director than he is an actor.”

In the mystery comedy, Darren uncovers a sizeable water heist, one in the same vein as 1974’s Chinatown. Pine’s co-stars include Danny DeVito, Annette Bening and Ariana DeBose.

It looks like the beginning of Pine’s new avenue as a writer-director – the Star Trek actor recently told Esquire that he already has two projects in development that he hopes to star in and direct.

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