The Weeknd may not retire his stage persona after all: ‘Who knows?

As far back as 2023, The Weeknd has talked about retiring his stage persona, and many believed that his new movie, Hurry Up Tomorrow, would be its last hurrah. In it, he plays a character named Abel, which is his actual birth name. But now the singer says he’s not so sure.

Asked by Entertainment Weekly if Hurry Up Tomorrow marks the death of The Weeknd, Abel says, “It feels like it. I mean, I’ve kind of toyed with the idea in the past with albums. But it could also just be a rebirth. Who knows?”

This is despite the fact that the film’s director, Trey Edward Shults, previously told Entertainment Weekly that he made the movie as though Abel was saying goodbye to The Weeknd.

“I tried to make the movie in a way where, for his fans and people who want to approach it at that level, I hope it’s very satisfying and you get a good meal out of it,” Shults said at the time.

“And for people that aren’t his fans and don’t know anything about him or even care about the final capping of the Weeknd, I think you still have a great movie to go through.”

Hurry Up Tomorrow, a psychological thriller that also stars Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan, is in theaters starting May 16.