James Ponsoldt has directed Jason Segel in multiple episodes of the Apple TV series Shrinking, which Segel also created with Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein. Now, Apple is extending its working relationship with Ponsoldt and Segel by picking up the global rights to the psychological thriller Sponsor, which Ponsoldt is directing, with Segel taking on the lead role. Ponsoldt and Segel also wrote the screenplay together. We’ve previously reported that John C. Reilly (Magnolia) had joined Segal in the cast, and now Deadline informs us that you can add Amy Madigan (Weapons) and Justine Lupe (Succession) into the mix.
Madigan’s star in shining bright right now, as she has been racking up the awards nominations for her performance in Weapons, and has won a couple of those awards so far (a Critics Choice award and a Boston Society of Film Critics award). Lupe is a two-time Actors Award winner for Succession (in the ensemble TV drama category) and earned a Critics Choice nomination for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in the Netflix series Nobody Wants This. I haven’t seen Succession or Nobody Wants This, but I did enjoy Lupe’s performance as the beloved Stephen King character (she’s especially beloved by King himself) Holly Gibney in the Mr. Mercedes TV series.
Synopsis and Producers
Sponsor will see Segel taking on the role of Peter, who makes a big mistake when he gets behind the wheel after partying too hard. A terrible accident leaves him with a choice: prison or a recovery program. Convinced he doesn’t have a drinking problem, he begrudgingly shows up to his first meeting and searches for a sponsor. In walks no-nonsense, charismatic yet enigmatic Jerry. Peter is convinced Jerry is the answer to his prayers.
Reilly is playing Jerry. Details on the characters Madigan and Lupe will be playing have not been revealed.
Coming our way from Apple Studios, the film is being produced by Platinum Dunes. The individual producers are Segel, Ponsoldt, and Platinum Dunes’ Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, and Alex Ginno. Before teaming up on Shrinking, where they’re both executive producers, Segel and Ponsoldt also worked together on the 2015 film The End of the Tour. Ponsoldt directed that film, which was based on David Lipsky’s 2010 memoir Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself, which was about a five-day road trip Lipsky had with the author David Foster Wallace. The film starred Jason Segel as Wallace, with Jesse Eisenberg as Lipsky.
Previous Platinum Dunes productions have included the remakes and/or reboots of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Amityville Horror, The Hitcher, Friday the 13th, and A Nightmare on Elm Street, plus The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, The Unborn, Horsemen, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Project Almanac, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Songbird, Drop, the Rosemary’s Baby prequel Apartment 7A, and the A Quiet Place franchise. They also collaborated with Blumhouse on the Purge films and Ouija films.
Does Sponsor sound like an interesting project to you, and are you glad to hear that Amy Madigan and Justine Lupe are in the cast? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
