Casting for Jesse Peretz’s Juliet, Naked movie is well underway, and Deadline reports that the adaptation has set sights on Ethan Hawke, Rose Byrne and Irish actor Chris O’Dowd to fill out key roles in the preliminary cast.
A big-screen take on Nick Hornby’s eponymous best-seller, it’s understood Tamara Jenkins (The Savages) and Jim Taylor (Sideways) have been elected to pen the adaptation, with revisions by Phil Alden Robinson and Evgenia Peretz. It’s got all the hallmarks of an ensemble dramedy, too, with the official snippet teeing up a “heartwarming romantic comedy about love and life’s second chances and follows the story of long-suffering Annie (Byrne), her music obsessed boyfriend Duncan (O’Dowd), and music star Tucker Crowe (Hawke), the object of Duncan’s obsession.”
Even from the fleeting logline alone, it’s not too difficult to see why Juliet, Naked is oft compared to Hornby’s classic High Fidelity. It made its way onto the silver screen all the way back in 2000, when Stephen Frears directed John Cusack and an up-and-coming Jack Black – in the movie scene, at least. Judd Apatow and Barry Mendel are among the producers attached to Juliet, Naked, spelling a reunion with both O’Dowd and Byrne following their work on Bridesmaids.
Juilet, Naked is a much more dramatic affair, though, and we’re excited to see how the adaptation pans out based on these casting tidbits. Hawke is coming off a role in ensemble actioner The Magnificent Seven and will next be seen in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. Byrne, meanwhile, just landed a live-action role in Sony’s Peter Rabbit redo and finally, O’Dowd recently wrapped filming on upcoming sci-fi God Particle.
