Daniel Day-Lewis ends acting retirement for a movie directed by his son

NEW YORK (AP) — Daniel Day-Lewis is coming out of retirement, seven years after his last movie, for a film directed by his son Ronan Day-Lewis.

The project was announced Tuesday by Focus Features and Plan B, who are partnering on “Anemone.” The film, Ronan Day-Lewis' directorial debut, will star his father along with Sean Bean and Samantha Morton. The film was co-written by the two Day-Lewises.

Earlier Tuesday, Daniel Day-Lewis and Bean were spotted driving a motorbike through Manchester, England, stoking intrigue about his impending return to acting. After making Paul Thomas Anderson's 2017 film “Phantom Thread,” the 67-year-old had said he was quitting acting.

“All my life, I’ve mouthed off about how I should stop acting, and I don’t know why it was different this time, but the impulse to quit took root in me, and that became a compulsion,” he told W Magazine in 2017. "It was something I had to do.”

Since then, his appearances in public have been infrequent. In January, though, he made a surprise appearance at the National Board of Review Awards to present an award to Martin Scorsese, who directed him in “Gangs of New York” (2002) and “The Age of Innocence” (1993).

“Anemone," currently in production, is described as exploring “the intricate relationships between fathers, sons and brothers, and the dynamics of familial bonds.”

Ronan Day-Lewis, 26, is a painter who has previously exhibited his works in New York. His first international solo exhibition debuts Tuesday in Hong Kong.

“We could not be more excited to partner with a brilliant visual artist in Ronan Day-Lewis on his first feature film alongside Daniel Day-Lewis as his creative collaborator,” said Peter Kujawski, chair of Focus Features. “They have written a truly exceptional script, and we look forward to bringing their shared vision to audiences alongside the team at Plan B.”