Bleecker Street has acquired North American rights to Telluride Film Festival world premiere The Friend starring Naomi Watts, Bill Murray, and Bing the Great Dane.
Scott McGehee and David Siegel co-wrote and co-directed the drama, which also played Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and New York Film Festival.
Watts plays writer and teacher Iris, whose comfortable, solitary New York life is thrown into disarray when her closest friend and mentor (Murray) dies suddenly and bequeaths her his beloved Great Dane. Iris eventually bonds with the beast and reconciles with the past and her creative inner life.
The ensemble cast includes Sarah Pidgeon, Carla Gugino, Constance Wu, Noma Dumezweni, and Ann Dowd.
Siegel and McGehee adapted the screenplay from Sigrid Nunez’s novel of the same name, and produced with Mike Spreter under their Big Creek Projects, alongside Liza Chasin and her 3dot Productions. Executive producers include Margaret Chernin and Watts.
Bleecker Street negotiated the deal with CAA Media Finance on behalf of the filmmakers and plans an early 2025 theatrical release. The film marks Bleecker Street’s second collaboration with Siegel and McGehee after the US release of their 2021 neo-Western Montana Story starring Haley Lu Richardson and Owen Teague.
Founder and CEO Andrew Karpen said: “The Friend is a quintessential New York story, featuring incredible writing and emotional performances that honour the power of friendship, facing grief, and especially the singular comfort animals provide. As a New York-owned and operated company, we are the perfect home for this film and can’t wait to reteam with Scott and David to bring it to audiences next year.”
This year, Bleecker Street celebrated its 10th anniversary. 2024 has also seen the world premiere of Bleecker’s Rumours from Guy Maddin in Cannes Competition. The upcoming release slate includes TIFF world premiere The Return starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche, releasing theatrically on December 6; as well as Mike Leigh’s TIFF world premiere Hard Truths with Marianne Jean-Baptiste, which gets a December 6 awards-qualifying release ahead of a wide release on January 10, 2025.
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