Emily Blunt Signs On for Wild Mountain Thyme, Film Adaptation of Outside Mullingar

Emily Blunt, the acclaimed actress most recently seen on-screen in Mary Poppins Returns, will headline the new film Wild Mountain Thyme, an adaptation of John Patrick Shanley's 2014 Broadway play Outside Mullingar, according to Variety. Jamie Dornan (The Fall) will co-star in the film, to be adapted and directed by Tony and Pulitzer winner Shanley (Doubt). Blunt replaces the previously announced Holliday Grainger.

Newly announced cast members also include Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Christopher Walken (A Behanding in Spokane) and Dearbhla Molloy (The Ferryman), the latter of whom will reprise her Broadway turn as Aoife.

Wild Mountain Thyme centers on Rosemary (Blunt) and Anthony (Dornan), two introverted misfits straddling 40. Anthony has spent his entire life on a cattle farm in rural Ireland, a state of affairs that—due to his painful shyness—suits him well. Rosemary lives right next door, determined to have him, watching the years slip away. With Anthony's father (Walken) threatening to disinherit him and a land feud simmering between their families, Rosemary has every reason to fear romantic catastrophe.

The Broadway production of Outside Mullingar was headlined by Debra Messing as Rosemary and Brían F. O'Byrne as Anthony. Doug Hughes directed that debut staging, which received a 2014 Tony nomination for Best Play.