Following her feature directorial debut with Flamin’ Hot, Eva Longoria is returning to Searchlight Pictures for a new feature, an adaptation of the novel Anita De Monte Laughs Last.
The novel by Xochitl Gonzalez, who will adapt her work for the screen, is a mystery that intertwines the stories of Raquel, a first-generation Ivy League art student in 1998, and Anita, an artist from the 1980s who was largely forgotten after her suspicious death. When Raquel discovers Anita’s work, she also uncovers unexpected parallels between their lives.
Along with Cris Abrego and Jada Miranda, Longoria will produce via her Hyphenate Media Group, which will soon release Eva Longoria: Searching for France on CNN and Necaxa on FX. SVP of Production Taylor Friedman and creative executive Daniel Yu will be overseeing the project for Searchlight Pictures.
Longoria will next direct the Paula Pell-penned Netflix comedy The Fifth Wheel, which has Gloria Sanchez attached to produce. She is repped by WME, Linden Entertainment and Yorn Levine.
Gonzalez, who is also behind the New York Times bestseller Olga Dies Dreaming and is a staff writer at The Atlantic, is repped by CAA, Entertainment 360 and Granderson Des Rochers