The Menu: Janet McTeer, John Leguizamo join darkly comedic thriller

Janet McTeer, a Tony winner and a two-time Academy Award nominee for her roles in the films Tumbleweeds and Albert Nobbs, and John Leguizamo, an Emmy and Tony winner himself, have signed on to star in the darkly comedic psychological thriller The Menu alongside Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch), Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road), Hong Chau (Downsizing), and Ralph Fiennes (Spectre).

Mark Mylod (Ali G Indahouse) is directing The Menu from a screenplay by Will Tracy (Last Week with John Oliver) and Seth Reiss (Late Night with Seth Meyers). The film is set

in the world of eccentric culinary culture, centering on a young couple who visit an exclusive restaurant on a remote island where an acclaimed chef has prepared a lavish tasting menu, with some shocking surprises.

Fiennes is playing the “globally-celebrated chef” who has developed this “eccentric culinary event” and “has added a few secret, and potentially nefarious, ingredients to his extravagant menu.” Taylor-Joy is playing one half of the “young couple” mentioned in the synopsis, but the roles played by Hoult, Chau, and Leguizamo have not been confirmed. McTeer’s character is a food critic.

Set up at Searchlight, The Menu is being produced by Adam McKay and Betsy Koch through their company Hyperobject Industries. Searchlight’s SVP Production DanTram Nguyen and director of production Zahra Phillips are overseeing the project for the studio.

McTeer’s previous credits also include Insurgent, Allegiant, and episodes of the shows Jessica Jones, Sorry for Your Loss, and Ozark. Leguizamo has appeared in George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead, Carlito’s Way, Summer of Sam, John Wick, The Mandalorian, Spawn, and To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar, among many other credits.

The Menu was once going to be directed by Alexander Payne, with Emma Stone in the lead role. They both had to leave the project due to scheduling issues.