Helen Mirren to star with Gillian Anderson in Wonder follow-up

Dame Helen Mirren has joined Gillian Anderson on the cast of White Bird: A Wonder Story, a companion piece to Liongate’s 2017 hit, Wonder.

Directed by Marc Forster, who also helmed Finding Neverland and Christopher Robin, White Bird will touch on the same universe as Wonder, with both films drawn from children's books written by R. J. Palacio.

"I am deeply honored to have Helen Mirren join us on this journey," Forster said in a statement published by Deadline.

"Beyond being a brilliant actress, Helen brings an immeasurable level of depth, humanity, and empathy to her roles, elevating any project she is a part of," he gushed.

"She is a true artist and I couldn’t be more excited to have her alongside our incredibly talented cast," he added.
White Bird follows up on a previous Wonder character, Julian Albans, who is visited by his grandmother from Paris. She tells him a story about a special friend from her youth in Nazi-occupied France when she was forced into hiding, and the pair created a beautiful and secret world in their imaginations.

Alongside Mirren, who will play Grandmère, the Parisian grandmother, and Anderson, who has been cast as Julian's mother, White Bird will also star Ariella Glaser and Orlando Schwerdt. Bryce Gheisar will reprise his role as Julian from Wonder.

Work on the production has already commenced in Eastern Europe.