Dakota Johnson in Talks to Join Olivia Wilde, Florence Pugh in New Line’s ‘Don’t Worry Darling’

Dakota Johnson is in negotiations to join the high-wattage cast of Olivia Wilde’s psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling.

Florence Pugh, Shia LaBeouf, Chris Pine and Wilde are starring in the New Line project, which Wilde is also directing and producing.

Details are being kept secret, but the setting for Don’t Worry Darling is an isolated, utopian community in the 1950s California desert and centers on a housewife who uncovers a disturbing truth about her seemingly perfect life.

Few details are available, but it is known that Pugh is leading the ensemble, playing the housewife. Character details for Johnson are also hidden behind the post-and-beam.

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While no shooting schedule is set, New Line hopes to begin filming Don’t Worry Darling as soon as coronavirus lockdown restrictions lift and it is safe to do so. Before the pandemic, the project was eyeing a late spring start.

BAFTA-nominated screenwriter Katie Silberman penned the screenplay based on a spec script by Shane and Carey Van Dyke. Vertigo Entertainment’s Roy Lee and Miri Yoon will produce with Wilde and Silberman.

Don’t Worry Darling has a spotlight on it as it is Wilde’s highly anticipated follow-up to her directorial debut, Booksmart, which racked up Golden Globe, BAFTA and Independent Spirit nominations and made Wilde an in-demand multihyphenate. When New Line picked up Don’t Worry Darling in August 2019, it was one of the most competitive auctions of the year. The growing lineup of name actors joining the pic is also a show of how keen talent is on working with Wilde. 

Johnson came to fame playing Anastasia Steele in the Fifty Shades film trilogy, and her recent credits include The Peanut Butter Falcon and Suspiria. She next stars opposite Tracee Ellis Ross in Focus Features and Working Title’s romantic musical drama The High Note. 

Johnson is repped by WME and Untitled Entertainment.