New out of Cannes reveals that Jenny Slate is set to star in a new comedy with the help of the writers from her Obvious Child breakout performance. The new project is titled Landline and will take Slate to 1995 Manhattan from a script written by Gillian Robespierre and Elisabeth Holm; Robespierre will also direct.
Also joining Slate in the cast will be Edie Falco (HBO’s The Sopranos), John Turturro (Transformers), Jay Duplass (Amazon’s Transparent), and newcomer Abby Quinn. The film will tell the story of three women in the same family who are all in one way or another navigating sex, drugs, and Japanese food in a time when cell phones were uncommon and smoking inside was still acceptable. The three women will be a mother (Falco) yearning to have it all, her oldest daughter (Slate) exploring her wild side, and her youngest (Quinn) discovering the heartbreaking truth that her father (Turturro) has been having an affair.
Since starring in Obvious Child, the sleeper indie hit of 2014, Slate has contributed her voice to the popular animated film Zootopia and has racked up several upcoming projects. She will soon be seen in the Sundance indie Joshy, which features a who’s-who of comedians including Thomas Middleditch (HBO’s Silicon Valley). She has recently ended filming on Marc Webb‘s (500 Days of Summer) Gifted alongside Chris Evans, as well as Aardvark and the true story adaptation Brain On Fire starring Chloe Grace Moretz. Slate’s most recent appearance was in Lena Dunham’s HBO series Girls.
Landline is set to begin production later this month. UTA is handling domestic rights. We will have more on the film as it is revealed.