“Where The Crawdads Sing” has all the makings of a big alternative summer hit. It’s a thriller based on a beloved, best-selling novel that all walks of life seem to adore, Reese Witherspoon is a producer and really pushing it, and the movie will also star an up-and-coming breakout star Daisy Edgar-Jones (“Normal People,” “Fresh”). It just feels like something Oprah and The View are going to be talking about for months in advance: a rare movie made for adults that will appeal to women. Sony already seems like it knows the book and movie have momentum and expect them to push this one hard like a “Gone Girl”-esque like romantic thriller. Hell, Taylor Swift just revealed she adored the book and wrote a song for the film called, “Carolina.” Aaron Dessner, from the National, who co-produced, and co-wrote songs for a few of her recent albums, produced the song.
“The book is a love letter to growing up in the South, which for me really resonated because I grew up in New Orleans and Nashville,” producer Reese Witherspoon said in a recent Vanity Fair profile of the movie. Here’s the official synopsis:
From the best-selling novel comes a captivating mystery. Where the Crawdads Sing tells the story of Kya, an abandoned girl who raised herself to adulthood in the dangerous marshlands of North Carolina. For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” haunted Barkley Cove, isolating the sharp and resilient Kya from her community. Drawn to two young men from town, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world; but when one of them is found dead, she is immediately cast by the community as the main suspect. As the case unfolds, the verdict as to what actually happened becomes increasingly unclear, threatening to reveal the many secrets that lay within the marsh.
“Where the Crawdads Sing” stars Daisy Edgar-Jones (“Normal People”) as “Kya Clark,” Taylor John Smith (“Sharp Objects”) as “Tate Walker,” Harris Dickinson (The King’s Man) as “Chase Andrews,” Michael Hyatt (Snowfall) as “Mabel,” Sterling Macer, Jr. (Double Down) as “Jumpin’,” and David Strathairn (Nomadland) as “Tom Milton.” Olivia Newman (‘First Match”) directs the screenplay by Lucy Alibar (“Beasts of the Southern Wild”) based upon the novel by Delia Owens. The 3000 Pictures film is being produced by Reese Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter.
“Where The Crawdads Sing” just got moved to a plum July 15, 2022 release date, and you know that means Sony has a ton of confidence in it. Watch the trailer below.