Searchlight Pictures announced on Monday that “The Queen’s Gambit” star Anya Taylor-Joy will star alongside Ralph Fiennes in “The Menu,” a dark comedy/psychological thriller produced by Adam McKay and directed by Mark Mylod.
Taylor-Joy will play a woman who travels with her boyfriend to an exclusive restaurant on a remote island to sample a serving menu from an acclaimed chef played by Fiennes. Mylod, who has directed episodes of hit HBO series like “Succession” and “Game of Thrones,” will direct from a BlackList-selected script by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy. McKay will produce with Betsy Koch through his Hyperobject Industries banner, with DanTram Nguyen and Zahra Phillips overseeing the project for Searchlight.
Anya Taylor-Joy is expected to be an Emmy contender this year after her performance in the Netflix limited series “The Queen’s Gambit” as a chess prodigy who becomes one of the top players in the world while dealing with substance abuse. Other future projects include “The Northman,” which will reunite her with “The Witch” director Robert Eggers, as well as Edgar Wright’s “Last Night In Soho” and George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” prequel “Furiosa.”
Fiennes, a two-time Oscar nominee, is also slated to return as M in the James Bond film “No Time to Die” and star in the “Kingsmen” prequel “The King’s Man” for 20th Century Studios.
Taylor-Joy and Fiennes are repped by CAA, and the casting was first reported by Deadline.