Jennifer Morrison – star of Once Upon A Time – is gearing up for the next phase of her career by filling out the cast of her feature-length directorial debut with an impressive roster of talent. Having already cast Ed O’Neill and multiple award-winning Allison Janney, Morrison has now added Melissa Benoist (Supergirl) and Michael Angarano (The Knick) to the list of stars set to appear in Sun Dogs.
Written by Anthony Tambakis (Warrior, Jane Got A Gun), the film will see Jennifer Morrison branch out with her own production banner – Apartment 3C Productions. Sun Dogs will be the first of two collaborations between Tambakis and Apartment 3C, and will start Morrison’s directing career off with a comedic look at duty, ambition and homeland security.
Ned (Michael Angarano) is a young man desperate to enlist in the U.S Marines and serve his country. Failing repeatedly, and then once more, he heeds the dismissive guidance of his interviewing officer, who tells him to focus his energies on protecting the homefront. Undertaking this perceived mission with the utmost seriousness, Ned becomes convinced that a local casino manager could well be a terrorist – plotting nefarious deeds to de-stabilize and endanger the nation. In an attempt to do his duty, he ropes in runaway Tally (Melissa Benoist) to help him investigate.
Jennifer Morrison previously directed the short comedy film Warning Labels in 2015, which starred Karen Gillan and Josh Lawson as two people who find love while in the employ of the Center For Disease Control. Sun Dogs would appear to be located squarely within that same wheelhouse, as Ned and Tally are set for romance while forming an unlikely and unofficial anti-terrorism task-force. The calibre of the cast now assembled gives some indication as to the quality of the script for this project, so the real revelation will be in seeing what Jennifer Morrison does with the material as director. We may well find out next year, as shooting on Sun Dogs begins on June 3rd, 2016.
