Deadline is reporting that Florence Pugh (Midsommar, Little Women) has signed on to star as the title character in Dolly, a sci-fi courtroom drama about a “robotic companion doll” which kills its owner and subsequently shocks the world by pleading not guilty and asking for a lawyer.
The project is inspired by the short story of the same name by Elizabeth Bear, Dolly will be written by Drew Pearce (Hotel Artemis) and Vanessa Taylor (The Shape of Water), with Pearce producing through his new production Point of No Return Films and Pugh and Taylor serving as executive producers.
Apple TV+ has secured the rights to the project this past week, fending off competition from multiple studios and a rival streamer. However, the script is yet to be written and no director is attached, and so it seems that Dolly will face a wait before she gets her day in court.
Assuming it holds onto its May date, Pugh will next be seen in Marvel’s Black Widow as Yelena Belova, a role she’s also reprising for the Disney+ series Hawkeye. She’s currently shooting Olivia Wilde’s new film Don’t Worry Darling, and recently signed on to star in The Maid for Universal Pictures.
