Legion M’s critically acclaimed dark comedy film My Dead Friend Zoe which won SXSW Film Festival’s Audience Award this year has been acquired by Briarcliff Entertainment for release later this year. The film is the directorial debut of Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, a former U.S. Army infantry paratrooper and Iraq War Bronze Star veteran.
My Dead Friend Zoe stars Sonequa Martin-Green (The Walking Dead, Star Trek: Discovery), Natalie Morales (Parks and Recreation, No Hard Feelings), Academy Award nominee Ed Harris (Westworld, Top Gun: Maverick, Apollo 13) and Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby, Shawshank Redemption, Invictus). The supporting cast includes Gloria Reuben (ER, Lincoln) and Utkarsh Ambudkar (Ghosts, Free Guy).
Co-written with A.J. Bermudez, the film is Hausmann-Stokes’ creative take on the post-war experience and a tribute to veterans of all generations.
My Dead Friend Zoe is a dark comedy drama that follows the journey of Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green), a U.S. Army Afghanistan veteran who is at odds with her family thanks to the presence of Zoe (Natalie Morales), her dead best friend from the Army. Despite the persistence of her VA group counselor (Morgan Freeman), the tough love of her mother (Gloria Reuben) and the levity of an unexpected love interest, Merit’s cozy-dysfunctional friendship with Zoe keeps the duo insulated from the world. That is until Merit’s estranged grandfather (Ed Harris) — holed up at the family’s ancestral lake house — begins to lose his way and needs the one thing he refuses… help. At its core, this is a buddy film about a complicated friendship, a divided family, and the complex ways in which we process grief.
Briarcliff plans to release the film in theaters nationwide for November 1, 2024.
The film is produced by Paul Scanlan (Legion M), Terri Lubaroff, Kyle Hausman-Stokes, Ray Maiello and Mike Field (Radiant Media Studios), Richard Silverman (ReCre8 Entertainment) and Robert Paschall, Jr. Executive Producers include Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris, Jeff Annison, David Baxter, Brandi Plants, Nancy Masterson, Joe Masterson and Igor Tsukerman.
The film also marks the executive producer debut of NFL star Travis Kelce.