EXCLUSIVE: Patricia Arquette will make her directorial debut with Rh Negative Entertainment and Catch & Release Films’ adaptation of Gonzo Girl, starring Camila Morrone, Willem Dafoe and Arquette. The film is based on the acclaimed novel of the same name by Cheryl Della Pietra and will be adapted by Rebecca Thomas and Jessica Caldwell.
Tom Heller is producing through Rh Negative Entertainment, as is Frank Hall Green through Catch & Release Films, Cameron O’Reilly through Bayard Productions and Arquette. Heller and Green have been the driving force behind pushing this through, with production slated to begin this week in Utah.
Set in 1992, the novel follows an aspiring author, Alley Russo (Morrone), who has an exciting new job as the assistant to legendary “gonzo journalist” Walker Reade (Dafoe), who lives at his estate/party house in Aspen. Ordered to help the notoriously messy Walker settle down to work on his long-promised latest mix of fact and fiction, Alley soon learns the truth: A lifetime of chronic drug abuse has impeded Walker’s writing ability to the point of being no more drug-soaked brains are pages of word salad. Bound to help a manic, drenched braggart get through one relatively uncreative day after another, Alley begins to turn Walker’s tirades and raves into publishable prose, running it through the filter of her own mind and typewriter , an act of moral support/plagiarism/treason keeping Walker’s career alive — for a few more months.
Arquette will play the role of “Claudia,” the longtime minder and manager of “gonzo journalist” Walker Reade.
While this marks her directorial debut on the acting side, Arquette recently received another award, earning a Supporting Actress nomination for her critically acclaimed work in Apple’s Severance. She will next be seen in the AppleTV+ series High Desert, which she is also producing. She is represented by Gersh, 3 Arts Entertainment and attorney Rick Genow of Goodman, Genow, Schenkman.
Dafoe remains very busy with some of his upcoming projects, including Walter Hill’s Dead for a Dollar, Inside, and Poor Things, which also stars Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo. It will be repeated by WME and Circle of Confusion.
Morrone stars in the upcoming Amazon series Daisy Jones & The Six. The series is based on the New York Times bestseller of the same name by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and her role was one of the hottest TV roles at the time of casting. Her previous work includes A24’s Never Goin’ Back and the indie drama Mickey and the Bear, which premiered at SXSW. She recently completed the production of jam. She is represented by WME and attorney Steve Warren of Hansen Jacobson.
Heller’s film resume reads like a who’s who of independent film, having executive produced Foxcatcher, Mud, Win Win, 127 Hours and the esteemed Precious. He is President of Rh Negative Entertainment, the production company founded by Regina Hall. Hall Green wrote and directed festival favorite Wildlike and is in post-production on the feature film If You See Something.