Bleecker Street has taken North American rights to the Scott McGehee and David Siegel directed and written feature, The Friend, starring Naomi Watts, Bill Murray and a Great Dane named Bing. A 2025 theatrical release is planned.

The film marks Bleecker Street’s second collaboration with Siegel & McGehee, having handled the US release of their 2021 neo-Western drama Montana Story, starring Haley Lu Richardson and Owen Teague

In The Friend, writer and teacher Iris (Watts) finds her comfortable, solitary New York life thrown into disarray after her closest friend and mentor (Murray) dies suddenly and bequeaths her his beloved 150 lb. Great Dane. The regal yet intractable beast, named Apollo, immediately creates practical problems for Iris, from furniture destruction to eviction notices, as well as more existential ones, his looming presence constantly reminding her of her friend’s problematic choices in both life and death. Yet as Iris finds herself unexpectedly bonding with the animal, she begins to come to terms with her past, her lost friend, and her own creative inner life.


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