Bestseller ‘The Last Animal’ Acquired by Walden Media and Big Beach for Film Adaptation; Ry Russo-Young to Direct (EXCLUSIVE)

Matt Donnelly
·2 min read
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“The Last Animal,” the award-winning bestselling novel from Ramona Ausubel, has been snatched up for film adaptation by production companies Walden Media and Big Beach.

Ry Russo-Young has been set to direct the feature based on the emotionally resonant story. Published in April 2023 by Riverhead Books at Penguin Random House, Ausubel’s work was named best book of the year by NPR, Kirkus Reviews and Oprah Daily, among others. A distributor has not yet been set.

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“Last Animal” follows teenaged sisters Eve and Vera, unexpectedly spending summer vacation on their mother’s scientific expedition. Fooling around in the permafrost, the sisters accidentally uncover a perfectly preserved, four-thousand-year-old baby mammoth. The discovery sends mother and daughters from the slopes of Siberia to the shores of Iceland to an exotic animal farm in Italy, resulting in the birth of a creature that could change the world — or at least their family.

“I’m honored to be entrusted with bringing this timely and wonderful book to the screen and I can’t imagine collaborating with better partners than Big Beach and Walden,” said Russo-Young, whose credits include “The Sun Is Also a Star,” “Before I Fall” and the HBO docuseries “Nuclear Family.” The director’s breakout came with the 2012 Sundance prize-winning indie “Nobody Walks,” co-written with Lena Dunham and starring John Krasinski, Rosemarie Dewitt and Olivia Thirlby. She’s repped by CAA and Sloane Offer.

Big Beach’s Tim Foley and Michael Clark will produce the project with John Baker (“Luce”).

“’The Last Animal’ will bring audiences on a wild and unexpected journey with a mother and her two girls as they courageously confront themselves as well as creatures past and present who have something important to reveal,” said Ben Tappan, president of production at Walden, who will executive produce for Walden alongside Frank Smith.

Big Beach’s Tim Foley and Michael Clark added they had the “best time” working with Russo-Young on the upcoming docuseries and “can’t wait to re-team with her to bring this magical story to life with Walden.”

Walden Media is currently in production on “Nuremberg,” directed by James Vanderbilt and starring Russell Crowe, Rami Malek and Michael Shannon. Their limited-series “Manhunt,” about the search for Abraham Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth, debuts on Apple TV+ on March 15.

Big Beach is the Oscar and Emmy-winning shop behind projects including “Little Miss Sunshine,” “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” and “The Farewell.”

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