EXCLUSIVE: Dakota Fanning (Ripley), Jake Johnson (Minx) and Cory Michael Smith (Mountainhead) have signed on to star in an untitled romantic drama written and directed by Joe Swanberg.
While we’re told the film is set in various locations throughout Alaska, plot details are under wraps. Fanning, Johnson and Smith will also produce alongside Swanberg and Ashleigh Snead, with Dan Johnson, Kathy Gitibin Parsa, and Ariana Parsa serving as executive producers.
The project marks Swanberg’s fourth collaboration with Johnson, following Drinking Buddies, Digging for Fire, and Win It All.
Coming off of Netflix’s hit series The Perfect Couple and her first Emmy nomination for her work in the streamer’s miniseries Ripley, Fanning will next team with sister Elle Fanning to produce and star in an anticipated adaptation of bestseller The Nightingale for TriStar, which is slated for release in February 2027. Upcoming, she’ll also be seen starring in Peacock’s thriller miniseries All Her Fault, opposite Sarah Snook, as well as Bryan Bertino’s Paramount horror film Vicious.
Recently making his feature directorial debut with the comedic thriller Self Reliance, which he also wrote, produced and stars in, Johnson set the film up at Hulu following its SXSW premiere. Best known for turns in Fox’s long-running sitcom New Girl and Starz’s cult hit Minx, which he also exec produced, he’ll next be seen starring opposite Ben Stiller and more in Josh Greenbaum’s pickleball comedy The Dink, which he also produced, as well as the Apple series Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed.
Recently signing on to lead Jeremy Saulnier’s October, a Halloween-set fugitive thriller for A24 — as we told you first — Smith is coming off a starring turn opposite Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, and Ramy Youssef in the HBO film Mountainhead from Succession‘s Jesse Armstrong. He drew strong reviews for his recent turn as Chevy Chase in Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night and will next be seen starring alongside co-star Dakota’s sister Elle in Sentimental Value, the lauded Joachim Trier dramedy which won Cannes’ Grand Prix and is slated for release with Neon and Mubi this fall. Upcoming, he also has A24’s Famous and Amazon’s The Nightbeast.
Indie mainstay Swanberg has directed over 20 features in total, including Drinking Buddies, Digging for Fire, Happy Christmas, and Nights and Weekends, which he co-directed with Greta Gerwig. In addition to writing and directing all 25 episodes of Netflix’s Chicago anthology Easy, he’s directed in TV for HBO, 20th Century Fox, and Netflix. As an actor, he has appeared in films by Ti West (The Sacrament), Adam Wingard (You’re Next), Josephine Decker (Thou Wast Mild and Lovely), and Mickey Keating (Invader). He co-wrote and produced Dave Franco’s directorial debut, The Rental, and has also produced films by Alex Ross Perry, Zach Clark, Lynn Shelton, and Dustin Guy Defa.
Fanning, Johnson, and Smith are all represented by UTA. Fanning is also repped by TFC Management and HJTH; Johnson by Jackoway Austen Tyerman; and Smith by Circle Management + Production. Swanberg is repped by Entertainment 360.
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