Melissa McCarthy and Nicole Kidman are teaming up to star in a drama show called Nine Perfect Strangers. The streaming show just released a trailer via Amazon Prime Video. Hulu released a first look trailer during the 93rd Academy Awards on April 25. Just from the trailer, many outlets have compared the series to the folk horror film Midsommar.
The miniseries will be available to stream worldwide in August. Over the years, Kidman has established herself as a dramatic actress, as well as comedic. But this is a different role for McCarthy. Usually, she takes on the funny, comedic roles, so it will be interesting to see how she does in this role.
This will also be the first time Melissa's project will air on a streaming platform, while Kidman has had other streaming series.
Here's everything we know about Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarthy's collaboration, Nine Perfect Strangers.
9 Based Of A Novel Of The Same Name
"Nine Perfect Strangers" is a 2018 novel by Liane Moriarty and a New York Times Bestseller. The book's synopsis is "Nine Australians from different walks of life attend a pricey 10-day 'Mind and Body Total Transformation Retreat' at a place called the Tranquillum House run by a mysterious Russian woman named Masha." It received mixed reviews and is said to be lighter and bit funnier than her other novels. Many people criticized it for too much character development.
8 This Is The Second Liane Moriarty TV Project
Australian author Liane Moriarty has written many novels, but if her name sounds familiar to you it is because she also wrote Big Little Lies, which was also turned into a TV miniseries. Kidman also starred in that series. One of her other books, "Truly Madly Guilty," was also supposed to gain the rights to turn into a film, which was pushed by Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, who both starred in Big Little Lies.
7 The Plot
According to the official synopsis, Nine Perfect Strangers "takes place at a boutique health-and-wellness resort that promises healing and transformation as nine stressed city dwellers try to get on a path to a better way of living. Watching over them during this 10-day retreat is the resort’s director, Masha (Kidman), a woman on a mission to reinvigorate their tired minds and bodies. However, these nine ‘perfect’ strangers have no idea what is about to hit them.”
6 The Cast
Alongside McCarthy and Kidman, the series stars others actors in supporting roles- Luke Evans, Melvin Gregg, Samara Weaving, Michael Shannon, Asher Keddie, Grace Van Patten, Manny Jacinto, Tiffany Boone, Regina Hall and Bobby Cannavale. They are supposedly the nine strangers who are coming for help. This is not the first time McCarthy has worked with Cannvale. They have starred in Thunderforce, Spy and Superintelligence together.
5 It Will Be On Streaming Platforms
Nine Perfect Strangers will premiere on two different streaming platforms. For watchers in the US and China, you can find it on Hulu starting on August 18. However, if you are in the UK, Australia, and elsewhere, it will drop on Amazon Prime Video UK on August 20, which if you factor in timezone, it is not that much different of a wait. It will be worth the wait.
4 This Is A First Time Collaboration For Kidman And McCarthy
It is surprising that two of Hollywood's biggest actresses have never worked together until now. When McCarthy appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in November 2020, she bragged about the Australian actress. She called her an amazing actress and an amazing oddball. "I’ve met Nicole but I’ve not worked with her. There’s something so regal about her. You expect her to be, 'Hello, I’m Nicole Kidman.' Then you really get to know her and you’re like, 'She’s weird!' She’s a wonderful weirdo," she told the talk show host.
3 Filming Had To Move To Australia
Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, filming had to be moved from L.A. to Australia because COVID was not too big of a problem over there. While that is not a problem for Kidman, who is Australian and lives there with husband, Keith Urban and kids, others had to uproot their life. In July 2020, Luke Evans revealed they all had to move to Australia, and they would be required to quarantine for 14 days, due to the regulations of the Australian government. All actors were required to be tested before filming started. Filming officially wrapped on December 21.
2 There Will Be Eight Episodes
The first three episodes will be dropped on Hulu and Amazon Prime Video on their respective release dates, and the rest of the episodes will be released weekly. However, with all of the character development in the novel, will eight episodes be enough? There is no word on if the miniseries will have another season yet or not, so hopefully everything gets answered in the eight episodes.
1 Kidman And McCarthy Are Executive Producers
Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarthy are once again taking on the roles of executive producers, along with acting in the series. The seasoned actresses have been executive producers on past roles, including Big Little Lies for Kidman. The show's creator, David E. Kelley also serves as executive producer alongside Bruna Papandrea. Kelley and John-Henry Butterworth are co-writers and co-showrunners. Kidman, Papandrea, and Kelley also collaborated on the HBO limited series The Undoing. Jonathan Levine directs all eight episodes of the series.