Allison Janney, Laura Dern to Star in ‘Breaking News in Yuba County’

Allison Janney and Laura Dern are set to star in “Breaking News In Yuba County,” an indie black comedy based on a Black List script from 2017, AGC Studios announced today.

Tate Taylor will direct and produce the film based on a script by Amanda Idoko. Jake Gyllenhaal and Riva Marker via their Nine Stories banner are also producing along with Franklin Leonard’s The Black List, and John Norris.

AGC Studios, which was launched earlier this year by IM Global CEO Stuart Ford, will fully finance the film. On board as executive producers are Ford and AGC’s head of film Greg Shapiro, Nine Stories’ Annie Marter, and Idoko. The film will go into production in mid-2019.

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Described as a noir and a black comedy, the story involves an overlooked pencil-pusher named Sue Bottoms (Janney) who catches her husband in bed with another woman, the shock of which causes him to die of a heart attack. So she buries his body and takes advantage of the growing celebrity status that comes from having a missing husband. But Sue quickly finds herself in over her head, dodging cops and criminals, all while trying to keep the truth from her sister Nancy (Dern), a local news anchor who’s desperate for a story.

“The moment I read Amanda’s dark and brilliant script I knew it was the one for Allison,” Taylor said in a statement. “She and I have been searching since ‘The Help’ for something big to do. So have Laura and I. It’s a perfect story of debauchery and chaos, and I’m delighted to have Stuart and his AGC team onboard as our backers.”

Janney, who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “I, Tonya,” currently stars on the sitcom “Mom” and is also currently filming Cory Finley’s “Bad Education.” Dern recently starred in HBO’s “The Tale” and will next be seen in season two of “Big Little Lies” and the Liam Neeson action movie “Cold Pursuit.”

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The deal was brokered by CAA and Endeavor Content and negotiated by VP, legal & business affairs Anant Tamirisa on behalf of AGC, WME and Bloom Hergott on behalf of Nine Stories, CAA on behalf of the producers and Taylor, the Gersh Agency and Thruline Entertainment on behalf of Janney, and CAA and Untitled Entertainment on behalf of Laura Dern.