Florence Pugh has signed on to star in Dolly, a film in the works at Apple. But this role will be unlike any other she’s played, and unlike one almost any other actor has, either. Pugh will play a sentient ‘companion robot’ who kills her owner, then claims she isn’t guilty, asks for a lawyer, and goes to trial.
A film set in a near-future sci-fi dystopia, crossed with a classic courtroom thriller, where Florence Pugh plays a killer robot? Sign me up. Vanessa Taylor (The Shape Of Water) and Drew Pearce (Hotel Artemis) are writing the screenplay, and the project reportedly garnered a big bidding war between streaming companies, with Apple TV+ winning out.
This is just the latest intriguing project Pugh has signed on for. Since breaking out in Midsommar – and in a non-coronavirus world she would have already co-starred in Marvel’s Black Widow – she’s signed on for other exciting original projects, like the Knives Out-esque murder mystery The Maid and Olivia Wilde‘s 50s-set psychological thriller, Don’t Worry, Darling.
If she continues this trajectory of picking great projects, Pugh could become one of the biggest stars in the world. She’s got the talent for it, and Dolly will surely only prove her range even more. No director is currently attached to the project, and it will be interesting to see who eventually signs on.
Without any built-in IP like their streaming competitors, Apple have gone with a different tactic of securing original projects with big stars at the helm. Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio‘s Killers Of The Flower Moon, Will Smith‘s Emancipation, and Joaquin Phoenix‘s Napoleon movie Kitbag are just a few that come to mind.
Once Dolly and these other big projects eventually arrive, we could see a shift in the streaming market if they deliver on their promise and lure in subscribers. That would potentially lead to other streamers following suit and greenlighting their own big original movies. We’ll wait and see, but Dolly could very much be a big part of Apple’s future success.
#Peace.Love.Dolly
