Naomi Watts and Bill Murray are leading a new dramedy movie from directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel, The Friend.

Others set to star in the indie include Sarah Pidgeon, Golden Globe nominee Constance Wu, Emmy winner Ann Dowd, and Noma Dumezweni.

The Friend is based on the New York Times Bestselling novel and winner of the 2018 National Book Award for Fiction of the same name by Sigrid Nunez, which centers on a Big Apple-based writer following the tragic death of her mentor and dear friend. Shocked by the sudden loss, she's left to process her grief and sort out his complex legacy as a writer and a person, a job that could help her better understand him.

"When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind. Her own battle against grief is intensified by the mute suffering of the dog, a huge Great Dane traumatized by the inexplicable disappearance of its master, and by the threat of eviction: dogs are prohibited in her apartment building," the description for Nunez’s novel reads. "While others worry that grief has made her a victim of magical thinking, the woman refuses to be separated from the dog except for brief periods of time. Isolated from the rest of the world, increasingly obsessed with the dog’s care, determined to read its mind and fathom its heart, she comes dangerously close to unraveling. But while troubles abound, rich and surprising rewards lie in store for both of them."

Watts and Murray previously starred together in 2014’s St. Vincent. McGehee and Siegel, meanwhile, have directed a number of movies together, including 2005’s Bee Season, 2012’s What Maisie Knew, and 2021’s Montana Story, among others.

Source: Press Release