Frances McDormand To Star In And Produce “Women Talking”
Two-time Oscar winning actress Frances McDormand is set to produce and star in Women Talking, a film adaptation of author Miriam Toews’ bestselling novel of the same name. The project was announced on Thursday by MGM’s Orion Pictures and Plan B Entertainment, with Sarah Polley tapped to both write and direct the project. McDormand will produce through her banner Hear/Say productions alongside MGM.
On the announcement, MGM’s Film Group Chairman, Michael De Luca, said that,
We are thrilled to continue our relationship with Plan B with Women Talking. Sarah and Frances collaborating to bring this incredible book to life on the big screen is something we are excited to be part of.
The acclaimed novel, which was published in 2018, follows the story of a group of women in Bolivia’s Manitoba Colony of Mennonites as they struggle with a series of sexual assaults committed by the colony’s men. As the story unfolds, more dark secrets surrounding the colony appear and the women must find a way to survive. The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, NPR, The New York Times, and many others named “Women Talking” the Best Book Of The Year.
Frances McDormand, who will next be seen in director Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland, won her first Oscar as Best Actress in the movie Fargo which was released in 1997 and was directed by Ethan Coen and Billy Coen. She would go on to receive another Academy Award for Best Actress Oscar for the movie Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which was a critical darling in 2018 and was directed by Martin McDonagh. Sarah Polley, meanwhile, notably directed the movie Away From Her and received a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Polley also won a Canadian Screen Award for Best Screenplay for the same film.
Women Talking will be released theatrically in the U.S. by United Artists Releasing, though there is no timetable for production. Given the pedigree of both the women involved, this project will likely an Oscar contender when it’s released.
