Few actors today set the internet on fire quite like Ryan Reynolds, Jason Momoa, and Aubrey Plaza, and as such, one expects that there will be quite a lot of excitement that follows the news that all three of the stars and now attached to an upcoming film. Along with Vince Vaughn, the talented performers are set to be a part of Animal Friends, a new live-action/animation hybrid feature that is being developed by Legendary Entertainment.
This casting news comes to us from Deadline, and though specifics about the film's plot are being kept hush-hush for now, it is known that the project isn't as family friendly as the title may make it sound. Animal Friends is described as an "R-rated road trip adventure." Peter Atencio, who won an Emmy for his work on the sketch series Key & Peele and directed the 2016 comedy Keanu is helming the movie as his follow-up to The Machine starring Bert Kreischer and Mark Hamill.
Duo Kevin Burrows and Matt Mider are writing the script based on their original concept. Their previous credits include the animated series Gentlemen Lobsters, which they co-created, and the 2018 Netflix film The Package. Animal Friends will not only be produced by Legendary, but also Ryan Reynolds' production company Maximum Effort and Prime Focus Studios.
Reynolds has spoken about taking a career sabbatical in recent years, but it's unclear exactly when that is going to start given that he is presently one of the busiest people in the entertainment industry. Last year he was in three different movies – The Adam Project, Spirited and Bullet Train – and in 2023 he's been developing big projects including a Red Notice sequel for Netflix, John Krasninski's IF (which features a stellar cast), and Deadpool 3 for Marvel Studios. Perhaps he'll finally take a break one those projects and Animal Friends are finished?
Like Ryan Reynolds, Jason Momoa is also having a monster year with some very exciting projects in the pipeline. Audiences won't see him in Dune: Chapter 2 due to the unfortunate fate of Duncan Idaho in the first film, but he'll be playing the "flamboyant bad boy" villain in Fast X this summer, and will be back on the big screen as DC hero Arthur Curry at the end of the year in Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom.
Aubrey Plaza is presently coming off an amazing career year. On the feature front, she earned widespread acclaim for her work in the indie drama Emily The Criminal (which immediately started trending on Netflix when it hit the streaming service), and both critics and audiences went nuts for her role in the second season of the hit HBO series The White Lotus. She most recently starred in Guy Ritchie's Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre, co-starring Jason Statham, Cary Elwes and Hugh Grant.
As for Vince Vaughn, the actor was last seen featured in the two most recent seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and he has two projects in the works: Nic Pizzolatto's movie Easy's Waltz starring Al Pacino and the Apple TV+ drama Bad Monkey.
Animal Friends does not yet have a release date, but stay tuned for more updates on the film, and check out our 2023 Movie Release Calendar to discover all of the features set to come out between now and December.
