'Where The Crawdads Sing' Adaptation Gives Leading Roles To Rising Stars From 'The Outpost' And 'The King's Man'

Reese Witherspoon has lined up another promising adaptation with Lauren Neustadter through their Hello Sunshine production banner. Teaming up with 3000 Pictures, they're producing an adaptation of Where the Crawdads Sing, based on Delia Owens' best-selling novel of the same name. Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People, War of the Worlds) is starring in the film, and the production has brought in up-and-coming stars Taylor John Smith and Harris Dickinson to take the two male leads

Deadline has news of Taylor John Smith and Harris Dickinson joining the Where the Crawdads Sing movi cast. The film is being directed by Olivia Newman with a script by Lucy Alibar, the Oscar-nominated writer of Beasts of the Southern Wild. If you're not familiar with Delia Owens' book, here's the official synopsis:

For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life–until the unthinkable happens.

Daisy Edgar-Jones is playing Kya the "Marsh Girl" while Taylor John Smith and Harris Dickinson will play the two young men who become involved with her. Smith is coming off a role in the sci-fi horror VOD release Shadow in the Clouds with Chloe Grace Moretz, and he also recently starred in The Outpost and a forthcoming untitled action movie starring Liam Neeson. As for Dickinson, he'll be seen in The King's Man, whenever the Kingsman franchise prequel ends up hitting theaters, and previously appeared in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.

This sounds like the kind of movie that could end up playing at the Sundance Film Festival and possibly making a run for some awards. The book sold 8.5 million copies worldwide and stayed on The New York Times bestseller list for 124 weeks, so plenty of people will be interested in see how it translates to the big screen.

As of now, there's no indication of when production will begin or when the movie might be released.