In a highly competitive situation, Apple Original Films has acquired The Wives, a murder mystery film to star Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence, who will also produce.
The project will be co-produced by Apple Studio and A24, with additional producers to include Justine Ciarrocchi for Lawrence’s Excellent Cadaver, and Jeremy O. Harris (Zola, Slave Play) and Josh Godfrey (Manchester by the Sea, Suspiria) for bb².
Details as to the plot are under wraps, though sources said the project draws inspiration from the Real Housewives reality franchise. Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley (Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical) will write the script.
An Academy Award winner, Lawrence is coming off of roles in Sony’s acclaimed sex comedy No Hard Feelings and Apple TV+’s veteran drama Causeway. In addition to those projects, she previously produced the documentary Bread & Roses, capturing the experiences of Afghanistan women’s under the Taliban since they took control of Kabul, which Apple acquired in April.
Best known as the playwright behind Slave Play, which landed 12 Tony nominations in 2021, bb2’s Harris was last year nominated for a pair of Tonys for producing The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window and Ain’t No Mo‘. Recently debuting the documentary Slave Play. Not A Movie. A Play on HBO, he’s otherwise best known for scripting Janicza Bravo’s Zola and is currently developing series for FX, HBO, and Legendary, among other projects.
Next set to release the Scarlett-Johansson-Channing Tatum starrer Fly Me to the Moon on July 12, Apple’s upcoming slate also includes Jon Watts’ thriller Wolfs, produced by and starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt; Doug Liman’s heist pic The Instigators, starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck; Oscar winner Steve McQueen’s Blitz; and Joseph Kosinski’s Formula 1 film starring Pitt, which has just recently locked distribution with Warner Bros for June 2025.
Lawrence and her Excellent Cadaver are repped by LBI Entertainment and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller. bb² is repped by CAA, 2AM, and Granderson Des Rochers. Breslin and Foley are repped by CAA and Shreck Rose Dapello.
