This was an unexpected email that came through this afternoon. Black Bear has acquired the unconventional romance film Wicker, which is set to star Oscar winner Olivia Colman and Oscar nominee Dev Patel. Behind the camera are Alex Huston Fischer & Eleanor Wilson, known for one of our favorite films here on the site, sci-fi comedy Save Yourselves!
Here is a synopsis: On the outskirts of a village by the sea, lives a Fisherwoman (Olivia Colman); smelly, single and perpetually ridiculed. One day, fed up with her stuffy, small-minded neighbors, she commissions herself a husband to be made from wicker (Dev Patel). In an otherwise conservative town, this unconventional romance sparks outrage, jealousy and chaos.
Definitely sounds like something that will push both Colman and Patel. The film will have a script written by Fischer and Wilson, adapting Ursula Wills-Jones‘ short story The Wicker Husband.
Filming won’t begin until 2024, and is not currently affected by the SAG-AFTRA strike.