“The Friend,” an upcoming comedy-drama that follows the relationship between a New York writer and a Great Dane dog passed on to her by a deceased friend, marks the second collaboration between Naomi Watts and Bill Murray. After co-starring in the 2014 critically acclaimed comedy “St. Vincent.” While Murray is notorious for being difficult to track down in the casting process, filmmakers Scott McGehee and David Siegel had the advantage of Watts already on board, a friend of Murray’s who was willing and able to reach out to the comedy legend, as she explained in a recent Collider interview:
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“I thought I’d take a shot at it. I sent him a text, and he responded right away. But also, the other caveat is that you will not be able to send him an email. He’s not gonna read it digitally. We had to have the script printed and hand-delivered by me. Yours truly. I managed to track down where he was at a certain time. He doesn’t have an agent; he doesn’t have a person to call. It was all, “This may work, and if it does work, it still may not work.”…you can’t rush the process with him. He loved the story right away. He read the book right away.
McGehee and Siegel lucked out. Much of what’s been shared so far indicates that “The Friend” will be another hit for Watts and Murray.
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The cast includes Naomi Watts, Bill Murray, Sarah Pidgeon, Constance Wu, Ann Dowd, Noma Dumezweni, Felix Solis, Owen Teague, Carla Gugino, and Josh Pais. It’s written and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel. Margaret Chernin and Watts are executive producers. The movie is based on the novel by Sigrid Nunez.
“The Friend” follows Iris (Naomi Watts), a New York City writer and teacher who takes ownership of the dog of her recently deceased friend, Walter (Murray): a Great Dane named Apollo.
Synopsis:
In THE FRIEND, adapted from the bestselling novel, Iris (Naomi Watts) finds her comfortable New York life upended when her friend and mentor Walter (Bill Murray) bequeaths her his Great Dane, Apollo. The regal yet intractable beast is a constant reminder of Walter and causes various problems— yet as Iris bonds with Apollo, she begins to cope with her past, her lost friend, and her own creative inner life.
Bleecker Street will release “The Friend” in theaters on March 28 (an exclusive NY run) and expand nationwide on April 4. Watch the first trailer below.
