In 2017, The New Yorker published a short story by Kristen Roupenian called Cat Person (read it HERE), which ended up being the most downloaded piece of fiction they published that year. Cat Person is now serving as the basis of a psychological thriller, which Deadline reported is set to star Emilia Jones (Locke & Key) and Nicholas Braun (Red State). Geraldine Viswanathan (Miracle Workers) has now joined them in the cast.
Roupenian’s story followed
the brief relationship between Margot, a twenty-year-old sophomore college student, and Robert, an older man who is a regular at the movie theater where Margot works.
The relationship in Cat Person is quite uncomfortable, but the short story didn’t really venture into thriller territory. I assume the screenplay written by Michelle Ashford (Masters of Sex) will continue on from the end of the story as it was in The New Yorker and take things in an even darker direction. That being the direction of something like Fatal Attraction.
Susanna Fogel (The Flight Attendant) is directing Cat Person, which is being produced by Jeremy Steckler and Helen Estabrook of New Yorker Studios. Fogel, Ashford, Daniel Hank, and Gino Falsetto serve as executive producers. The project is being fully financed by Studiocanal.
Viswanathan’s character in the film is a college student who is Margot’s best friend. I’m disappointed to hear that she’s only getting the “best friend” role here; when I first saw that she had been cast I assumed she would be the lead. I’m a fan of Viswanathan from her roles in Blockers, The Package, Bad Education, and The Broken Hearts Gallery (I haven’t watched Miracle Workers yet), so hopefully she’s playing a best friend who will have plenty of screen time and prominent involvement in the story.
We’ll keep you updated on Cat Person as the project continues to move forward. Have you read Roupenian’s story? If so, what do you think of it being turned into a psychological thriller? Let us know by leaving a comment below.