Ryan Reynolds Talk to the Animals in ‘The Voices’

Six weeks after the Sundance Film Festival concluded, Lionsgate has picked up U.S. distribution to the offbeat thriller The Voices starring Ryan Reynolds.  The film was written by Michael R. Perry (a veteran writer of television series as varied as House and The Practice and co-writer of Paranormal Activity 2) and directed by Marjane Satrapi, who co-directed the 2007 Oscar nominated and Cannes-prize winning animated feature Persepolis from her own graphic novel of a precocious Iranian girl growing up during the Islamic Revolution.  She previously directed the live action French film Chicken With Plums.The Voices tells the strange tale of a disturbed factory worker (Reynolds) who, while infatuated with a fellow co-worker, heeds advice given from his talking pets – a sinister cat and benevolent dog – that lead him to be implicated in some murderous activity.  Gemma Arterton (Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Quantum of Solace) and Oscar-nominated actresses Anna Kendrick and Jacki Weaver co-star.  The Voices marks the fourth title Lionsgate has picked up from this years crop of Sundance films. Other movies in their library include the Bill Hader/Kristen Wiig drama The Skeleton Twins (which earned the Screenplay prize at this years festival) and Cooties, a new horror-comedy hybrid starring Elijah Wood.

Sales on The Voices may have been soft considering the recent disappointing output from Reynolds as of late – last summer he rather notoriously opened the misfires R.I.P.D. and Turbo in the same weekend. However, first reviews out of Sundance were promising, if not outright raves for a film that will most decidedly be a niche offering given its premise.  Eric D. Snider in his Film.com review called it, “A loopy, ghastly, funny, morbid and unforgettable 100 minutes,” and Boyd van Hoeij from The Hollywood Reporter said the film was, “A wild, occasionally hilarious genre crossbreed that features a terrific performance from Ryan Reynolds.”

No release date has been confirmed as of yet.