Quvenzhanè Wallis continues to add interesting projects to her resume following her Oscar nomination for Beasts of the Southern Wild. The pre-teen actress, who will next be seen starring opposite Jamie Foxx in Annie, has signed on for the leading role in the adaptation of Holly Goldberg Sloan's best-selling novel Counting by 7s.
The bestseller centers on Willow Chance, a bright young girl who, after the death of her adoptive parents, is taken in by an unlikely surrogate family and an unfit guidance counselor. In the wake of tremendous loss, she rises to build a community that she heals and that heals her.
“I am honored to play the role of Willow in Counting by 7s,” Wallis says in a statement. “I love the message behind the story. I am excited to be a part of it and to see it come to life.” Wallis just wrapped her first big studio film with the musical Annie and will also star in the upcoming adaptation of Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet and Fathers and Daughters, alongside Russell Crowe.
Meanwhile, Danny Glover and Maya Rudolph have signed on for Diego Luna's Mexico-set road movie Mr. Pig. The film will follow a farm-worker (Glover) who travels from the U.S. to Mexico, joined by a pig with whom he strikes up a friendship. The film will be produced by Luna's company, Canana Films.
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(Photos from left: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images, Alexandra Wyman/Getty Images for CDG)