Olivia Cooke, the ‘dying girl’ in the Sundance darling Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, has been tapped for the lead in the upcoming indie drama Katie Says Goodbye, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl was one of the big hits at Sundance this year, winning the Grand Jury Prize and an Audience Award for U.S. Dramatic Feature. Fox Searchlight won a bidding war for the film, which is slated for a summer 2015 release. Cooke’s work in the film was widely praised by fest-goers and critics alike.
In Katie, Cooke plays the title character, a waitress who resorts to turning tricks in an effort to start a new life in San Francisco. Christopher Abbott (A Most Violent Year) is set to play a mechanic and Katie’s love interest. Jim Belushi, Mary Steenburgen, and Mireille Enos (TV’s The Killing) join the cast in supporting roles.
Martha Marcy May Marlene writer-director Sean Durkin will executive produce along with his Borderline Film partners Antonio Campos and Josh Mond. Wayne Roberts, a colleague of Durkin and Campos since their NYU Film School days, penned the script and will make his directorial debut.