Taylor Swift is having what many consider the most successful year of her nearly two-decade career.

She kicked off 2024 with a historic fourth win for Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards and just a few months later, she released her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department.

The 35-year-old singer wrapped up her record-breaking Eras Tour, which grossed $2 billion in ticket sales, earlier this month after nearly two years on the road.

And now, with no new album or tour on the horizon, fans are predicting that 2025 will mark a major turning point in Swift’s career.

Many believe that Swift will finally begin production on her highly anticipated directorial debut.

It was first announced in 2022 that the Anti-Hero singer had agreed to team up with Searchlight Pictures to direct her first feature-length film.

At the time, Variety reported that Swift had finished writing the original script.

To keep the project secret, no details about the plot or cast have been revealed.

In a joint statement, Searchlight presidents David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield praised the start of a ‘creative journey’ with Swift.

‘Taylor is a once-in-a-generation artist and storyteller. It has been a true joy and honor to collaborate with her as she embarks on this new and exciting creative journey,’ they wrote.

Neither Swift nor Searchlight Pictures have provided any updates on the film since the partnership was confirmed more than two years ago.

This may be due to Swift’s busy work schedule which includes the release of two new albums, two re-recorded albums, a concert film and a world tour.

But fans believe Swift is keeping her schedule “open” for 2025 in hopes of releasing her long-awaited film.

It also appears she’ll be returning to her usual two-year album release cycle, meaning no new music until at least 2026.

On Reddit, many Swifties speculated that the 13-time Grammy-winning artist will spend much of next year filming an untitled film.

As for the release date, some fans are confident that the film could hit theaters in ‘early 2026.’

Meanwhile, others pointed out that a 2026 release might not be feasible because the film “takes a long time to make” — even if filming goes on schedule.

Fans have also speculated about the script, with some wondering if it’s based on an unreleased novel Swift wrote when she was just 14, titled A Girl Named Girl.

The book is said to be about ‘a mother who wanted a son instead of a daughter.’ Swift’s parents, Scott and Andrea Swift, are said to be the only ones who own the book.

Swift’s project with Searchlight Pictures isn’t her first attempt at directing.

Since breaking onto the music scene in 2006, the Lover hitmaker has directed 13 of her 61 music videos herself.

Many of her videos feature big stars like Post Malone, Laura Dern, and Miles Teller.

And Dern, who appeared in Swift’s 2022 music video for Bejeweled, called Swift a ‘real filmmaker’ when she recalled the experience in 2024.

‘In addition to everything else that she does and is a true filmmaker, I got to experience that firsthand,’ Dern shared on TheWrap’s UnWrapped podcast.

‘I’m very excited to follow her journey, wherever she goes next.’

Swift took her directing career to new heights in 2021 with the release of the critically acclaimed 15-minute short film, All Too Well.

Starring Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink and Teen Wolf heartthrob Dylan O’Brien, the project serves as a visual for a 10-minute version of her 2012 ballad of the same name.

The song has long been rumored to be about Swift’s brief, age-gap romance with Oscar-nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal, who was nine years her senior when they dated in 2010.

According to Variety, Swift made it clear that the short film “is not a music video” and that she and her crew “approached things differently.”

During that same conversation, she admitted that she suffered from “imposter syndrome” when writing scripts.

‘I had imposter syndrome in my head and was like, ‘No, you don’t do that. Other people do that when they go to school to do [film/screenwriting],’ Swift recalled telling herself.

All Too Well premiered in New York City on November 12, 2021, and had a limited release in major cities in North America.

The song won the Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 2022 ceremony.

Over the years, Swift has spoken many times about how ‘fulfilling’ being behind the camera feels to her.

She revealed her desire to direct a feature film in July 2022 — five months before her deal with Searchlight Pictures was announced.

‘It would be amazing to write and direct something… a feature film. I don’t see it getting any bigger, in terms of scale,’ she told the audience at the Tribeca Festival that year, according to Variety.

She hinted that she wanted to make another film as ‘real’ as All Too Well.

In December 2022, Swift spoke with The Banshees Of Inisherin director Martin McDonagh, 54, for Variety’s Directors on Directors series.

In a candid conversation, Swift said she “always wanted to tell stories” but only realized later that directing was her calling.

‘I’ve always written stories, poems, songs. And I think it just grew out of that storytelling. And the more I did it, the more I loved it,’ she explains.

Her calling to direct came in 2019 when she struggled to find a female director to direct the music video for her feminist theme song, The Man.

‘Luckily, the few people I contacted were all offered… So I was like, “I can do this, I can.” And when I got to direct, I just thought, “This is actually more fulfilling than I ever imagined,”‘ Swift recalled.

What came from ‘necessity’ became Swift’s goal as she continued to direct her music videos.

At the time, she told Oscar-winning director McDonagh that she was having trouble directing projects.

Instead of jumping straight into a full-length film, she’s gradually taken on more responsibility by doing music videos and short films.