Henry Golding Boards Sony’s Drama ‘Downtown Owl’ From Directors Lily Rabe & Hamish Linklater

Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) has signed on for a role in the drama Downtown Owl, from Sony Pictures’ Stage 6 Films, Deadline can confirmed. He’s set to star alongside previously announced cast members including Ed Harris, Vanessa Hudgens, Finn Wittrock, Jack Dylan Grazer, August Blanco Rosenstein and Lily Rabe.

The feature directorial debut of Rabe and Hamish Linklater is based on Chuck Klosterman’s New York Times bestselling novel of the same name. It’s set somewhere in rural North Dakota in 1983, in the fictional town called Owl. There, you won’t find cable or pop culture, but you will find a downtown with a first-rate Chevrolet dealership, three bars and a new high school English teacher whose presence upends the lives of locals, just in time for a white-out blizzard for the ages.

Linklater wrote the script for the project, which was part of the Sundance Institute Creative Producing Summit and Talent Forum. Bettina Barrow and Rabe are producing for Kill Claudio Productions, alongside Rebecca Green and Linklater. Laura Rister ,Lee Broda and Joel Michaely are exec producing, with Tom McLeod serving as co-executive producer, and T Bone Burnett providing the film’s music. Three Point Capital is providing financing, with Esme Grace Media/COIL having provided initial artist support funding. Eric Charles and Elizabeth Grave are overseeing the project for Stage 6 Films, with production underway in Minnesota.

Best known for his turn as Nick Young in Warner Bros.’ Crazy Rich Asians, Golding will next be seen in Carrie Cracknell’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, with Dakota Johnson, Suki Waterhouse and Richard E. Grant; Camille Delamarre’s action pic Assassin Club, with Sam Neill and Noomi Rapace; and the Paramount animated film The Tiger’s Apprentice. He’s also previously appeared in films including Snake Eyes, The Gentlemen, Last Christmas, Monsoon, A Simple Favor, The Borneo Incident and Gold Diggers, and lent his voice to Star Wars: Visions.

Golding is repped by CAA, Megan Silverman Management and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman.