No one plays a powerful woman in the midst of a downfall better than Cate Blanchett, so its natural she’s be the perfect choice to play Martha Stewart. The Australian actor and Oscar winner is set to star as the home and hospitality icon in Good Thing, a new film from Zola director Janicza Bravo. Here’s everything we know about the film so far:
Does Martha Stewart approve?
Well, yes. On the red carpet for the New York screening of Brunello: The Gracious Visionary, Stewart let slip that the 54-year-old Blanchett would be playing her. Variety then confirmed the news.
The film will be titled Good Thing.
The phrase comes from Stewart’s iconic catch phrase, “It’s a good thing,” which first took off in the early 1990s and was later famously satirized on Saturday Night Live by Ana Gasteyer. It’s her stamp of approval she gives to the products, methods, tips, and tricks for homemaking, cooking, and crafting that meet her famously exacting standards.
There’s a buzzy director attached.
Janicza Bravo, who cowrote and directed 2020’s Zola with Jeremy O. Harris, is attached to helm the project. South African screenwriter Ricky Tollman will write the script.
Good Thing is far from the first on-screen portrayal of Stewart.
Stewart, 84, has been given the biopic treatment before, though it hasn’t always gone well. Cybill Shepherd portrayed the mogul in two made-for-TV movies in the early 2000s: Martha, Inc.: The Story of Martha Stewart and Martha Behind Bars, about Stewart’s stint in prison.
Stewart was not a fan of the portrayal, and in 2024, she participated in a documentary, Martha, directed by R.J. Cutler for Netflix. The film charted the 84-year-old’s life story from her childhood in post-war New Jersey to her status as a businesswoman, television personality, and icon of American pop culture. It followed her marriage, the founding of her media empire and its sale in 1999 (which made her the country’s first self-made female billionaire), the five months she spent in a minimum security prison for lying to federal investigators regarding a well-timed stock sale in 2004, and her eventual comeback into the spotlight. It’s not clear yet how much ground Good Thing will cover.
Blanchett is a natural fit for the role.
Blanchett, of course, has a history of playing complex female characters at the height of their power—including the Queen of England, Katharine Hepburn, and, of course, Lydia Tár. Most recently, the two-time Oscar winner starred in Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother, which won the Golden Lion award at the 2025 Venice Film Festival. Next, she’ll be in David Zellner’s sci-fi comedy Alpha Gang and Alice Birch’s drama Sweetsick.
There’s no release date.
Stay tuned for updates on production and release date.
