John Hawkes, Jon Bernthal, Thomas Haden Church join 'The Peanut Butter Falcon'

Armory Films has announced that John Hawkes, Jon Bernthal, Thomas Haden Church, and Yelawolf will join the cast of The Peanut Butter Falcon.

The film directed by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz centres on Zak, a young man with Down Syndrome who has been confined to live in a retirement home for most of his life.

One day he breaks out and takes to the road to try to find his hero, a retired wrestler named The Salt Water Redneck. Along the way Zak experiences adventure and danger, and joins forces with a desperado crab fisherman and a kind nurse. 

The cast also includes newcomer Zachary Gottsagen, Shia LaBeouf, Dakota Johnson, and Bruce Dern.

Armory Films’ Tim Zajaros and Christopher Lemole are producing and financing the film, alongside Bona Fide Productions’ Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa, T Bone Burnett, Lije Sarki, and David Thies. Burnett will also produce the soundtrack.

Hawkes received an Oscar nomination for his role in Winter’s Bone, and a Golden Globe nomination for The Sessions. He will next be seen in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Small Town Crime; both releasing this autumn.

Bernthal is best known for his turn in the AMC series The Walking Dead. He also appeared in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf Of Wall Street. He will next be seen starring in the upcoming Netflix series The Punisher and promoted the show at Comic-Con over the weekend.

Haden Church received an Oscar nomination for his role in Sideways. He currently stars in the HBO series Divorce alongside Sarah Jessica Parker. His previous credits include Heaven Is For Real, John Carter, and We Bought A Zoo.

Yelawolf is an American hip hop artist known for albums including Love Story and his upcoming release, Trial By Fire.

Berger and Ron Yerxa said: “Along with our partner T Bone Burnett, we have nothing but love for this excellent cast. We’re thrilled to be working again with some of our favorite actors mixed in with actors we’ve long admired and wildly talented newcomers. There’s a great sense of commitment and energy on everyone’s part to bring this unique story to life.”