Having evolved her career from acting to producing, Anna Kendrick is taking the next step. She'll sit in the director's chair for true crime thriller The Dating Game.
But even with this new job, Kendrick will still also produce and star in the film, based on a script by Ian MacAllister McDonald.
That, in turn is based on the stranger-than-fiction true story of Cheryl Bradshaw, who was a bachelorette on the hit 70s TV matchmaking show The Dating Game and chose handsome and funny bachelor number one, Rodney Alcala. But behind Alcala’s charming façade was a deadly secret: he was a psychopathic serial killer…
"I’ve loved this script from the moment I read it,” Kendrick tells Deadline. "And while I was obviously thrilled to be playing the character of Sheryl, I felt so connected to the story, the tone, and the themes around gender and intimacy, that when the opportunity came up to direct the film, I jumped at it. It feels meant to be."
Kendrick will be presenting the film to potential distributors at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival, where she will also be supporting the premiere of new drama Alice, Darling.