Anthony Bregman of Likely Story and Leslie Urdang and Dean Vanech of Olympus Pictures have completed casting on their dark comedy The Oranges, drawn from the 2008 Black List of most promising unproduced projects.

Film Nation holds international rights and CAA is representing North America on the project, which stars Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener, Leighton Meester, Allison Janney, Oliver Platt, Alia Shawkat, Adam Brody and Sam Rosen.

Julian Farino is directing from a script by Jay Reiss and Ian Helfer. Currently shooting in New York, The Oranges centres on two friendly families – the Ostroffs and the Wallings – on the same street whose close ties are challenged when the daughter of one falls in love with the head of the household of the other.

Olympus Pictures is financing. Its first feature Adam with Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne was released by Fox Searchlight in 2009 and recent projects include the upcoming drama Rabbit Hole with Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart, and Mike Mills’ Beginners with Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer and Melanie Laurent.

Olympus Pictures is developing among others a film with Hwy61 inspired by the life of US-based television sports host Sal Masekela, and Spin with Rob Morrow, adapted from the book by Robert Charles Wilson.

New York-based Likely Story’s Please Give recently premiered at Sundance and will shortly be released by Sony Pictures Classics, while another recent Sundance premiere, The Extra Man, was just acquired by Magnolia Pictures. The company recently signed a first look deal with graphic novel and comic book publisher Tom Shelf Productions.  

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