Kerry Washington and Steven Yeun join the cast of Animals, a kidnapping thriller directed by and starring Ben Affleck.
THR reports that Kerry Washington and Steven Yeun have joined the cast of Animals, the kidnapping thriller which Ben Affleck is directing for Netflix.
In addition to directing, Affleck will also star in the film alongside Gillian Anderson. Animals “concerns a mayoral candidate and his wife whose son is kidnapped. Surrounded by plenty of enemies, political and otherwise, the husband and wife have no choice but to get their hands dirty in order to save their son.” Affleck plays the mayoral candidate, Washington plays his wife, Anderson is a fixer, and Yeun is Affleck’s campaign manager. The script was written by Connor McIntyre with revisions by Billy Ray.
Animals will be shot in Los Angeles. Affleck will produce alongside Matt Damon and Dani Bernfeld for Artists Equity and Brad Weston and Collin Creighton for Makeready.
Originally, Animals was set to star Damon in the leading role with Affleck just directing, but some issues with the rights forced the project to be put on hold. Affleck moved on to The Accountant 2, and by the time Animals was ready to move forward again, Damon was already attached to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. Affleck needed to move forward, so the easiest choice was to just star in it himself.
Yeun will next be seen in starring alongside Robert Pattinson in Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17. The sci-fi comedy will hit theaters on March 7. He will also star alongside Affleck and Damon in RIP, a crime thriller written and directed by Joe Carnahan. The film follows a “team of Miami cops whose trust begins to fray when they discover millions in cash in a derelict stash house. As outside forces learn about the size of the seizure, everything for the team is called into question—including who they can rely on.” It will debut on Netflix this fall.
As for Washington, she’s part of the all-star ensemble cast of Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. The third installment of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out series naturally features Daniel Craig reprising the role of detective Benoit Blanc alongside Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Chuch. The film will debut on Netflix later this year.
