David Siegel and Scott McGehee’s latest film The Friend has been acquired by Bleecker Street with plans to release the film in 2025. This marks Siegel & McGehee’s second collaboration with Bleecker Street following their 2021 neo-Western drama film, Montana Story, which starred Haley Lu Richardson and Owen Teague.
The Friend stars two-time Oscar-nominated actress Naomi Watts, Bill Murray, Sarah Pidgeon, Constance Wu, Ann Dowd, Noma Dumezweni, Felix Solis, Owen Teague, Carla Gugino, Josh Pais and a Great Dane named Bing.
The synopsis of the film reads: Writer and teacher Iris (Watts) finds her comfortable, solitary New York life thrown into disarray after her closest friend and mentor (Murray) dies suddenly and bequeaths her his beloved 150 lb. Great Dane. The regal yet intractable beast, named Apollo, immediately creates practical problems for Iris, from furniture destruction to eviction notices, as well as more existential ones, his looming presence constantly reminding her of her friend’s problematic choices in both life and death. Yet as Iris finds herself unexpectedly bonding with the animal, she begins to come to terms with her past, her lost friend, and her own creative inner life.
“We’re thrilled with how people have connected with our film, and we’re very so happy to be re-teaming with Bleecker Street who are such champions of both independent filmmaking and theatrical distribution. We cannot wait for them to introduce audiences to The Friend in local cinemas next year,” said co-directors Siegel & McGehee on the acquisition.
“The Friend is a quintessential New York story, featuring incredible writing and emotional performances that honor the power of friendship, facing grief, and especially the singular comfort animals provide. As a New York-owned and operated company, we are the perfect home for this film and can’t wait to reteam with Scott and David to bring it to audiences next year,” said Bleecker Street founder and CEO Andrew Karpen.
The Friend had its world premiere at this year’s 51st Telluride Film Festival garnering critical acclaim with a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score. The drama film also screened at this year’s 49th Toronto International Film Festival and the 62nd New York Film Festival.