Academy-award winner actor Patricia Arquette is set to make her directorial debut with the adaptation of Gonzo Girl, starring Camila Morrone, Willem Dafoe, and Arquette, Deadline reports. The movie will be based on the novel of the same name by Cheryl Della Pietra. The novel, set in 1992, is inspired by the author’s real-life crazy experiences while working with the late journalist and novelist Hunter S. Thompson. The journalist led a well-known gonzo lifestyle, famously writing for Rolling Stone Magazine in his initial days. He also wrote The Rum Diary and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas which were both made into films with actor Johnny Depp in the lead.

Gonzo Girl follows a recent college grad and aspiring writer Alley Russo who is trying to make a career in New York publishing circles. She finds an exciting new job, as the assistant to legendary “gonzo journalist” Walker Reade. Living in his compound/party house in Aspen Alley is charged to help the famously chaotic Walker settle down to work on his long-promised latest blur of fact and fiction. However, Alley soon comes to a realization that a lifetime of chronic substance abuse has chipped away at Walker’s writing ability and that all he can produce from his drug-drenched brain are pages of word salad. Nonetheless, obliged to help a manic, she gets through one relatively uncreative day after another. Alley soon begins to transform Walker’s rants and raves into publishable prose by running it through the filter of her own mind and her own typewriter, an act of moral support/plagiarism/treachery that keeps Walker’s career alive — at least for some time.

Morrone is cast as Alley Russo and Dafoe will play Walker Reade while Arquette is set to play the role of Claudia, the minder and manager of Walker for many years. Rebecca Thomas and Jessica Caldwell are set to adapt the screenplay.

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Gonzo Girl is produced by Tom Heller through Rh Negative Entertainment along with Frank Hall Green through Catch & Release Films, Cameron O’Reilly through Bayard Productions, and Arquette. Green and Heller have been the driving force behind the project long in making. Previously in 2017 Becca Thomas and Jessica Caldwell (When I’m Done Dying) were attached to adapt the project. Thomas also intended to direct with Oliva Cooke (Ready Player One) set to star.

The movie will begin production this week in Utah with Arquette, Dafoe, and Morrone. Check out our interview with Willem Dafoe below: