“Saltburn,” the second feature film from writer-director Emerald Fennell, has added Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver and Archie Madekwe to its cast.
The trio joins previously announced stars Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike and Barry Keoghan. Plot details are being kept under wraps, with the official description calling it “a story of obsession.”
“Saltburn” is Fennell’s follow-up to “Promising Young Woman,” for which she won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. She will write and produce the film alongside Margot Robbie, Josey McNamara and Tom Ackerley of LuckyChap Entertainment. The MRC and Amazon Studios film will debut in theaters courtesy of Amazon and MGM before it streams on Prime Video.
“From the second we read ‘Saltburn,’ we were completely hooked,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios and Julie Rapaport, head of movies at Amazon Studios. “Emerald is a triple-threat filmmaker — she is really one-of-a-kind.”
Added MRC Film co-presidents Brye Adler and Jonathan Golfman, “Emerald’s first movie is one of the most bold, arresting and confident debut films of the last decade and her singular voice and provocative sensibility are on full display again in ‘Saltburn.’”
Fennell has two other screenplays in the works: “Zatanna,” an adaptation of the DC Comics heroine, and John Wick spinoff “Ballerina.” Her next acting role will be in Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.”
The veteran actor Grant, who got his start onscreen in “Withnail and I,” most recently portrayed Sir Walter Elliott in the Dakota Johnson-starring “Persuasion.” Upcoming projects include the animated TV series “Gossamer” and “The Tutor,” co-starring Julie Delpy.
Oliver broke out as the star of this year’s “Conversations with Friends,” a series adaptation of the popular Sally Rooney novel. Madekwe’s recent credits include “Midsommar,” “Love, Death & Robots,” and Apple TV+’s “See.”
Grant is represented by Curtis Brown Group and WME. Madekwe is represented by Curtis Brown Group, UTA, and Ziffren Brittenham. Fennell is represented by UTA, United Agents in the UK, Entertainment 360 and attorney Dan Fox at Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, Gellman, Meigs & Fox.
