Variety is exclusively reporting that Wagner Moura and Adria Arjona have signed on to star in the film adaptation of Francisco Goldman’s bestselling novel Say Her Name, with Gerardo Naranjo on board to direct.

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Say Her Name chronicles the relationship between Francisco Goldman and his wife Aura Estrada. It follows a perpetually single novelist and journalist, who is caught off guard when he falls passionately in love. Aura is an aspiring and brilliant young writer with a wild side, who is fiercely loyal to her mother, who wants to separate Aura from Francisco and who blames him after Aura’s tragic death.

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Gerardo Naranjo released a statement saying:

The film contains love and tragedy in equal parts. I love how Francisco and Aura’s relationship evolves from simple flirting to a meaningful universe they create together both in Mexico and in NYC, a love that changes both of their lives. Paradoxically, it is in Mexico’s idyllic playas that Aura dies tragically. The accident moves the story towards grief in the form of memory and nostalgia.

I’m thrilled to be working with Adria — actress, artist — who is perfect to embody Aura, the one who is not with us; and to also have the incredibly talented Wagner on board to play Francisco. I feel honoured to be bringing to life the story of these two exceptional souls.

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This will be Goldman’s second novel to be adapted into a film, with the first being HBO’s crime documentary The Art of Political Murder, which was released in 2020 and is based on his 2007 novel of the same name.

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William Horberg (Wonderful Films), Juan de Dios Larraín (Fabula Films), and Zak Kilberg (Convergent Media) will serve as producers on the project, while Russell Smith and Michael Cleaver (Convergent Media), Pablo Larraín (Fabula Films), Carlos Enrique Cuscó and Ari Taboada (Foton Pictures), Laura Bickford, Wagner Moura and Adria Arjona will serve as executive producers.

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The film is being financed by Foton Pictures, while UTA Independent Film Group will be launching worldwide sales for the project at the upcoming European Film Market.