‘Off Campus’ star joins Mason Thames in Sony’s coming-of-age comedy ‘Narcs’
Sony Pictures’ ‘Narcs’ has found its female lead opposite Mason Thames, adding to the cast of its coming-of-age comedy. The casting follows news of Thames’ involvement earlier this week. John Phillips, the writer behind ‘No Hard Feelings,’ ‘Good Boys,’ and ‘Dirty Grandpa,’ will make his feature directorial debut with the movie. Sony is keeping the story under wraps and has not disclosed details about either lead character.
Deadline reported that Ella Bright will play the female lead, marking her first major studio feature role. Bright stars as Hannah Wells in Prime Video’s ‘Off Campus,’ an adaptation of Elle Kennedy’s book series. She appears opposite Belmont Cameli in the romantic drama, which was renewed for a second season before its May premiere. Her character’s name in ‘Narcs’ has not been announced.
‘Off Campus’ reached 36 million viewers worldwide in its first 12 days. That made it Prime Video’s third most-watched series debut, behind ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ and ‘Fallout’. Before playing Hannah, Bright portrayed a young Kate Middleton in Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ and starred in ‘Malory Towers’. She is also set to appear alongside Finn Cole and Ben Foster in the wrestling drama ‘Gable’.
Thames recently led the live-action ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ and returned for ‘Black Phone 2’. His casting in ‘Narcs’ was reported earlier this week, but details about his character have not been released. Sony has also not announced who else might join the cast.
Jordan and Justin Shipley, who created ‘Wrecked’, wrote the original screenplay for ‘Narcs’. Phillips and Gene Stupnitsky later worked on the script, and Stupnitsky is producing through Big Name Entertainment. Robert Lamonaca is an executive producer for the company, alongside Phillips, Joseph Micucci and Andy Davis. Phillips’ writing credits also include ‘Dirty Grandpa’, though ‘Narcs’ will be his first feature as a director. Sony has not announced a production schedule or release date.
