Isla Fisher & Greg Kinnear To Topline Family Comedy ‘The Present’ From ‘How To Be Single’ Helmer Christian Ditter
Isla Fisher (Wolf Like Me) and Greg Kinnear (Shining Vale) will topline the family comedy The Present, from director Christian Ditter (How to Be Single), which has entered production in Los Angeles.
In the film from Stuart Ford’s independent content studio AGC Studios, a brilliant boy discovers he can manipulate time using an enchanted family heirloom, then teaming up with his siblings to go back to the eve of their parents’ separation in hopes of changing the outcome. As their schemes become more elaborate, the siblings will learn about family bonds and what they can and can’t control. Fisher and Kinnear are playing the parents in search of reconciliation, with Easton Rocket Sweda (General Hospital), Shay Rudolph (The Baby-Sitters Club) and Mason Shea Joyce (Euphoria) portraying the siblings who just might be the only people who can make that happen.
Ross Butler (Shazam!) also stars in the film written by Emmy winner Jay Martel (Key and Peele). Chairman and CEO Ford is producing alongside Linda McDonough for AGC Studios, with Marcei Brown and Jessica Malanaphy for CatchLightStudios (The Aviary). Martel, CatchLight’s Jason Clark, and AGC’s Zach Garrett and Miguel Palos are serving as executive producers.
After directing four German features—all of which were box-office hits and festival favorites—Ditter transitioned to directing English-language films with the rom-com Love, Rosie, following that pic up with New Line’s How to Be Single. He then served as director and executive producer on the Netflix series Girlboss, most recently creating the Netflix series Biohacker, which he’s directed and produced for two seasons.
Fisher stars alongside Josh Gad in the Peacock series Wolf Like Me, which was renewed for a second season last month, and has also been cast in Josh Greenbaum’s upcoming comedy Strays for Universal. The actress is also known for turns in films including Wedding Crashers, Nocturnal Animals, The Beach Bum, Tag, Greed, Now You See Me, The Great Gatsby, Rise of the Guardians, Bachelorette and I Heart Huckabees, among others. Additional TV credits include Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development.
Kinnear is an Oscar nominee who stars opposite Courteney Cox in Starz’s horror-comedy series Shining Vale, which has also been picked up for a second season. The actor has also appeared in films including The Red Sea Diving Resort, Brigsby Bear, Little Men, Stuck in Love., Ghost Town, Fast Food Nation, Little Miss Sunshine, Stuck on You, You’ve Got Mail and As Good as It Gets, among many others. Additional TV credits include The Stand and House of Cards.
AGC has cultivated a slate of 26 major film and television productions across non-fiction, unscripted and scripted projects since its launch in 2018. The studio is currently in post on Rupert Wyatt’s action-drama Desert Warrior, starring Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, and Sir Ben Kingsley; Christopher Smith’s Consecration, starring Jena Malone and Danny Huston; and Numa Perrier’s Netflix pic The Perfect Find, starring Gabrielle Union and Gina Torres. Also in the works is the film Poolman, which Chris Pine will star in and direct from his script.
Founded in 2020 by Brown, Malanaphy, Clark, Rick Osako and Jeanette Volturno, Catchlight Studios is a collective of producers who are passionate about supporting storytellers on every level. The company’s credits include The Aviary (Saban Films), Umma (Sony/Stage 6), Nightbooks (Netflix) and Songbird (STX), the first film shot in Los Angeles during the Covid lockdown.
Fisher is represented by Shanahan Management in Australia, UTA and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern; Kinnear by WME, Anonymous Content and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman; Sweda by Zuri Agency; Ditter by UTA and Casarotto Ramsay & Associates in the UK; Martel by Verve; and CatchLight by Reder & Feig.
(Deadline)