Where the Crawdads Sing has all of the trappings of a potential hit adaptation in the vein of Gone Girl. Delia Owens’ novel is a bestseller, a captivating murder mystery and a thriller geared toward adults, particularly women. The film stars breakout Fresh and Normal People actress Daisy Edgar-Jones, plus has the backing of producer Reese Witherspoon (years ago she would’ve starred in this herself) and superstar Taylor Swift, who wrote a song for the film that you can hear in the new trailer. Every summer you can count on at least one film cashes in as counterprogramming to the big blockbusters, and this might be it.
Directed by Olivia Newman and penned by Lucy Alibar, Where the Crawdads Sing stars Edgar-Jones as a resourceful young North Carolina woman who becomes the prime suspect in the murder of an ex-boyfriend.
Also in the cast are Harris Dickinson, Taylor John Smith, David Strathairn, Garret Dillahunt, Ahna O’Reilly, and Michael Hyatt.
“The book is a love letter to growing up in the South, which for me really resonated because I grew up in New Orleans and Nashville,” Witherspoon recently told Vanity Fair.
Where the Crawdads Sing just moved up a week and will open on July 15th.
From the best-selling novel comes a captivating mystery. Where the Crawdads Sing tells the story of Kya, an abandoned girl who raised herself to adulthood in the dangerous marshlands of North Carolina. For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” haunted Barkley Cove, isolating the sharp and resilient Kya from her community. Drawn to two young men from town, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world; but when one of them is found dead, she is immediately cast by the community as the main suspect. As the case unfolds, the verdict as to what actually happened becomes increasingly unclear, threatening to reveal the many secrets that lay within the marsh.
