Violet McGraw has joined the cast of Curry Barker’s Anything But Ghosts, the filmmaker’s next feature for Focus Features. Aaron Paul, Bryce Dallas Howard and Cooper Tomlinson were already set for the film, which has already wrapped shooting in Vancouver, BC.
The move keeps McGraw in a run of high-profile projects that has turned her into one of the busiest young actors working. She returned to the big screen in M3GAN 2.0 last year, rejoined the MCU as young Yelena Belova in Thunderbolts*, reunited with filmmaker Mike Flanagan for The Life of Chuck and most recently starred opposite her sister Madeleine in The Curse of the Necklace, which the two also produced. McGraw first broke through in The Haunting of Hill House, then played Young Yelena in Black Widow and now leads the Tubi YA comedy Summer’s Last Resort alongside Sophia Bush and Jerry O’Connell.
Anything But Ghosts marks Focus Features’ second film with Barker, following the company’s acquisition of Obsession out of TIFF Midnight Madness for $10 million-plus. Barker directed Anything But Ghosts and co-wrote it with Cooper Tomlinson, with Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, Spooky Pictures and Divide/Conquer producing. The film also extends a relationship that has already put Barker on the map with buyers after Obsession drew strong attention and landed on the strength of its festival buzz.
The new casting gives Anything But Ghosts another recognizable face after production is already finished, which means the film is now in postproduction as Focus Features lines up its release strategy. The remaining question is how Barker’s follow-up to Obsession will be positioned after a 96% fresh reception for the earlier title and a cast that now mixes established stars with McGraw’s rising profile.
