Kristen Roupenian’s viral short story Cat Person was first published in the New Yorker back in late 2017, and went on to become the magazine’s most downloaded fiction of that year, striking a nerve with many readers for its disturbingly relatable depiction of modern dating. Now, film company Studiocanal has shared news of a (pretty inevitable) adaptation, alongside early casting details.
Billed as a psychological thriller that describes the “hellscape” of modern romance, the project is set to star Nicholas Braun (AKA Succession’s Cousin Greg and star of Zola) and Emilia Jones (Coda).
Susanna Fogel, director of The Flight Attendant, and one of the writers behind Booksmart, is also on board to direct, while the script comes courtesy of screenwriter Michelle Ashford.
In case you were living under a rock (or didn’t have a New Yorker account) in 2017, Roupenian’s short story revolves around Margot, a 20-year-old college student, and her brief, uncomfortable, and ultimately ill-fated relationship with an older man, Robert, who frequents the cinema where she works.
“Using Kristen’s excruciatingly well-observed short story about the horrors of dating as the jumping off point for an actual genre film, Cat Person will explore the hellscape of modern romance,” says Fogel (via Deadline). “And the idea that we have all been the villain in someone else’s story, and the victim in others.”
Following the success of Cat Person, Roupenian also worked on her own screenplay, titled Bodies, Bodies, Bodies. The horror movie was picked up by A24 in 2018, and is set to star Amandla Stenberg, Pete Davidson, Maria Bakalova, and Rachel Sennott.