Ryan Reynolds, Jason Momoa, Aubrey Plaza, and Vince Vaughn are set to star in Animal Friends, a live-action/animation hybrid movie in the works at Legendary.
Emmy winner Peter Atencio, who has Legendary’s Bert Kreischer comedy The Machine coming out in May, will direct from a script by Kevin Burrows and Matt Mider, the duo behind Netflix’s hilarious comedy The Package and the well-regarded stoner comedy script Stoned Alone.
Deadline broke the news, reporting that while plot details are being kept under wraps, the project is described as an R-rated road trip movie. And given the fact that it’s a hybrid movie, it’s unclear which cast members will appear on camera, and which ones will simply lend their recognizable voices to the film.
Reynolds will produce Animal Friends via his Maximum Effort banner, and the idea for the project grew out of a general meeting that Burrows and Mider had with the company’s exec, Patrick Gooing. Namit Malhotra‘s Prime Focus Studios will also produce alongside Legendary and Maximum Effort, while DNEG will handle the film’s animation and visual effects.
Reynolds recently starred opposite Will Ferrell in Apple’s Christmas-themed musical comedy Spirited after toplining a pair of Netflix tentpoles — The Adam Project and Red Notice. He’ll spend the summer shooting the Marvel sequel Deadpool 3 with Hugh Jackman and Emma Corrin.
Momoa recently starred in Apple’s sci-fi series See and the Netflix movie Slumberland. He’ll soon be seen as the villain in Fast X, and he’ll reprise his role as the titular superhero in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which is expected to make a splash in theaters this December. Momoa is also set to star in WB’s Minecraft movie and the Apple series Chief of War, and he’s attached to produce and star in Universal’s action comedy Shots! Shots! Shots! which was written by Burrows and Mider.
Vaughn recently wrapped the Apple TV+ series Bad Monkey from Ted Lasso and Shrinking co-creator Bill Lawrence, and he’ll soon be seen alongside Al Pacino, Michelle Monaghan, and Simon Rex in the indie drama Easy’s Waltz from True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto.
Plaza recently earned a Golden Globe nomination for her turn in Season 2 of The White Lotus, as well as Indie Spirit and Gotham Award nominations for her performance in the indie thriller Emily the Criminal, which she also produced. Plaza recently wrapped Francis Ford Coppola‘s sci-fi epic Megalopolis and she’s currently filming the Marvel series Agatha: Coven of Chaos.
Atencio won an Emmy for directing Key and Peele and reunited with the sketch show’s stars Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele for their 2016 action comedy Keanu. He also directed and executive produced Amazon’s tongue-in-cheek limited series Jean-Claude Van Johnson starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Burrows and Mider have the Eddie Murphy movie The Pick Up in the works at Amazon. They’re represented by Silver Lake Entertainment and WME, which also reps Reynolds, Momoa, and Vaughn, the latter of whom is also managed by Range Media Partners. Plaza is represented by CAA and MGMT Entertainment, while Atencio is repped by UTA and Artists First.
