“Animals” is inching closer towards the big screen. Alia Shawkat (“Search Party”) and Holliday Grainger (“Tulip Fever”) have been cast in Sophie Hyde’s adaptation of Emma Jane Unsworth’s best-selling novel. A press release announced the news.
The comedy follows Laura (Grainger) and Tyler (Shawkat), hedonistic best friends and drinking buddies whose lives are turned upside down when Laura becomes engaged to a man who decides to go teetotal. Unsworth penned the adaptation of her book.
Currently shooting in Dublin, “Animals” is an official Irish/Australian co-production from Vico Films and Closer Productions.
The pic marks Hyde’s follow-up to “52 Tuesdays,” her feature debut. The acclaimed coming-of-age drama centers on a 16-year-old and her transgender parent in the midst of transitioning. The film’s title refers to the fact that the teen and her parent see each other exclusively on Tuesday afternoons. “52 Tuesdays” was shot over the span of a year, but filming was limited to one day each week — Tuesday.
“Emma’s novel (and screenplay) is a celebration of a female friendship and an examination of being a modern woman, a woman with faults and longings, aspirations and competing desires,” said Hyde. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with both Holliday and Alia to bring two characters to the screen who are funny, disturbing, charming, and nuanced, and I am delighted to bring this ‘Animals’ world to life with an exceptional team from both Ireland and Australia.”
Best known for her role as Maeby on “Arrested Development,” Shawkat’s other credits include “Transparent,” “20th Century Women,” and Amber Tamblyn’s directorial debut, “Paint It Black.” She toplines TBS’ “Search Party,” which concluded its second season in December. No word on whether the dark comedy will return for a third installment.
Disney’s live-action “Cinderella,” “The Borgias,” and “My Cousin Rachel” are among Grainger’s previous projects.
