Opie and Will has officially started filming, according to this post on the movie's official Instagram page. If you're not excited, then you've probably never heard of the movie, or read the book it is an adaptation of. After all, the production of Opie and Will is something to be excited about.
This article is, in part, for those of you who want to know more about the movie that will be hopefully be hitting the big screens by April 2020.
The movie stars Jaymes Davis as Ophelia 'Opie' Hudson and Dani Davis as Willow 'Will' Hudson. Yes, the actresses are related, if you haven't come across them before. Better yet, they're fraternal twins, much like our titular characters. Before the casting was announced, I was a little worried that they would cast two women who look nothing alike to play the characters―who have their fair share of physical similarities―, but I was more than happy when they announced that they'd hired IRL twins.
Even happier when I discovered who said twins were.
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DANI DAVIS, LEFT, AND JAYMES DAVIS.
Acting alongside the twins we have:
Tyler Posey, known for his portrayal of Scott McCall on Teen Wolf, as Oliver Alvárez.
Lucien Laviscount, known as Earl Grey on Scream Queen and Ennis Ross on the Bloodlines episode of Supernatural, as Levi Mills.
Harry Potter fans, you might like this―Katie Leung, the actress known for playing Cho Chang, is set to play Freya Jeong. Her casting was unofficially announced before the twins when Leung was pictured reading the book by paparazzi.
Billie Piper, known primarily for her role as Rose Tyler on Doctor Who, is set to play Anna Jones, the twins' aunt.
And let's not forget that Tom Holland is set to play Brody Hudson, the twins' younger brother.
This is just the main cast.
As aforementioned, Opie and Will is set to be released in April of 2020, and is based after the book of the same name (which is alternatively titled 'A Guide to Surviving Life').
The producers of the movie have apparently been contemplating changing the title of the movie from 'Opie & Will', to something else― the book's author, Julie Jameson, has stated that they're trying to decide between keeping the original title, changing it to 'A Guide to Surviving Life.'
Here's the book's official summary, if any of you are interested in picking it up or want to know if the movie will be your cup of tea.
Ophelia and Willow Hudson saw their lives turning out a lot differently.
At twenty-three, they were meant to be living in that tiny apartment in New York City, working two jobs to keep up with the bills, but loving every second of it, because they were all that much closer to achieving their dreams.
They weren't supposed to be back here, in their small English town, struggling to cope with the tragic loss of their parents and trying to keep their brother from drowning beneath the weight of his own sadness, even though they themselves were barely keeping their heads above the water.
They weren't supposed to back here, in their small English town, trying to keep their aunt away from the bottle― to keep their jobs and their home as their own― to keep their dreams alive.
They're almost completely submerged under water when they're rescued― when someone comes along and offers the twins a helping hand, one of the few people to see that they are struggling.
But, if anything, his help is the last thing they want.
Honestly, if that doesn't draw you in, then I think there's something wrong with you.
For those of you who want a further insight into the story before deciding to read it, then this is for you:
The story follows fraternal twin sister, Ophelia 'Opie' Hudson and Willow 'Will' Hudson, who in the first chapter are drawn back to their hometown following the tragic, and completely world-shattering, death of their parents, who did nothing but support the twins in their decision to move to America to pursue music and acting respectively.
Will had just landed her first role, and Opie had just scheduled a meeting with a label, thanks to a mysterious stranger's ties with them.
Chaos awaits them at home. Their brother has trouble getting out of bed and has fallen in with the wrong crowd, and their aunt has once more resorted to alcohol as a form of comfort. The twins, despite themselves suffering, have no other choice but to step up― they apply for their old jobs, Opie as a bartender and Will as a waitress, move their aunt into the spare room and cleanse the house of any alcohol, and try to show their brother that everything will be fine.
There is a lot of conflict for them to overcome. There's the return of Will's ex-boyfriend, Carter, who tries to offer the girls' help (but, as Opie so helpfully reminds Will, 'help from Carter isn't free'). There's that brief, terrifying moment where Opie believes she's been stalked by the aforementioned 'mysterious stranger', who really just happens to be at the same place at the same time. There's the fights, the heartbreak, the tears― Opie waking up to find her sister watching their parents' wedding video.
This story ― despite all the pain, heartache, fighting, and the relationships ― is ultimately about two young women trying to survive after a tragedy, trying to piece their lives back together. It's them realising that they cannot survive apart from each other. It's about three siblings (because Brody is as much a part of this as the twins) coping with such a catastrophic loss.
If you have read / go on to read the book and need someone to freak out with, I'm your gal! Just tweet me @ophxlias or send me a message on tumblr @willxws.
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