Toni Collette, Anna Faris, and Thomas Haden Church will soon be competing with each other over their inheritance. Signature Films has announced that the three have been cast in writer/director Dean Craig's The Estate.
Collette will play Macey and Faris will play her sister Savanna. In the film, the sisters learn that their wealthy, but estranged Aunt Hilda is terminally ill. They decide to use this news as an opportunity to improve their bitter relationship with their aunt and cater to her needs so that they can collect their inheritance. They hope to use the money to save their struggling cafe. However, when they arrive at the estate, they learn that their cousins Beatrice and Richard (played by Church) are trying to swoon Aunt Hilda into giving them her estate. The family members then battle over who can impress their aunt the most and come out on top.
Collete was nominated for an Academy Award for playing Lynn Sear in 1999's The Sixth Sense (directed by M. Night Shyamalan). She has also starred in 2018's Hereditary (directed by Ari Aster) and 2019's Knives Out (directed by Rian Johnson). She will also star in this year's upcoming film Nightmare Alley (directed by Guillermo del Toro).
Faris' previous acting work includes 2005's Just Friends (directed by Roger Kumble), 2008's The House Bunny (directed by Fred Wolf), and 2018's Overboard (directed by Rob Greenberg). She is also known for playing Cindy Campbell in the Scary Movie series and Christy Plunkett on CBS's Mom.
Church was nominated for an Academy Award for playing Jack Cole in 2004's Sideways (directed by Alexander Payne). He also played Sandman/Flint Marko in 2007's Spider-Man 3 (directed by Sam Raimi) and Robert Dufresne in HBO's Divorce. He will be reprising his role as Sandman in this year's Spider-Man: No Way Home (directed by Jon Watts).
Craig's previous work includes writing and directing 2020's Love Wedding Repeat (starring Olivia Munn and Sam Claflin) for Netflix. He also wrote both the UK and American versions of Death at a Funeral. The 2007 UK version was directed by Frank Oz, while the 2010 American version was directed by Neil LaBute. The Estate will be produced by Signature Films' Mac Goldberg and Sarah Gabriel.
"Dean's knack for farce is one of a kind," said Goldberg. "We look forward to bringing this comedy to life and working with this extraordinary group of talent." Sarah Jessica Parker and Alison Benson's Pretty Matches Productions will also produce the film. Executive producers include Capstone Global's Christian Mercuri, David Haring, and Thruline's Josh Kesselman.
No official release date has been given for The Estate. Craig is also working on The Honeymoon, which will star Maria Bakalova.