Ryan Reynolds, Jason Momoa, Aubrey Plaza & Vince Vaughn to Star in R-Rated Live-Action/Animation Hybrid Comedy Adventure 'Animal Friends'

by Darian Scalamoni

    Talk about an all-star cast! Legendary is assembling a major quartet to lead Animal Friends, an R-rated road trip adventure comedy that combines live-action and animated characters. The news comes from an exclusive over at Deadline and will star Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool), Jason Momoa (Aquaman), Vince Vaughn (Wedding Crashers) and Aubrey Plaza (The White Lotus).

    Though plot details are under wraps, we can confirm that Emmy-winning director Peter Atencio (The Machine, Key and Peele) will direct from a script written by the duo of Kevin Burrows and Matt Mider. The idea of the film came from a general meeting had by the pair and Patrick Gooing, who is an executive over at Reynolds' production company, Maximum Effort. Bringing on the rest of the cast came together quickly after.

    Reynolds is currently gearing up to return as the Merc with a Mouth in Deadpool 3 for Marvel Studios. He'll also lead John Krasinski's film Imaginary Friends along with Steve Carell and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, which also releases in 2024. While Momoa is set to return as his own comic book hero, Aquaman in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom at the end of this year for DC. First though, he'll play the villain in Fast X next month. He's currently filming the AppleTV+ series, Chief of War.

    Vaughn is set to lead his own AppleTV+ series soon with Bad Monkey from the creators of Ted Lasso. He'll also reunite with True Detective collaborator Nic Pizzolato for the indie drama, Easy's Waltz alongside Al Pacino, Michelle Monaghan and Simon Rex. Plaza is coming off an Emmy nomination for her role in season 2 of HBO hit The White Lotus. She also turned in a stellar performance in the indie crime thriller Emily the Criminal. She's set to join the MCU later this year in Agatha: Coven of Chaos and will also star in Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis.