Craig Zobel has grown a glowing reputation after helming episodes of HBO Max projects such as “Mare of Easttown” (tackled the entire limited series), “Westworld,” “The Leftovers,” and “The Penguin.” He’s gearing up for a new feature effort with the thriller, ‘Turpentine,’ up next. The director is looking to cast some interesting talent for lead roles in the project.
According to reporting from Deadline, Zobel is in active talks with Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”) and “Heated Rivary” breakout star Connor Storrie for key parts in “Turpentine,” which is said to follow “a deadbeat son who hires friends to rob his own parents to pay off a bookie, with disastrous results.”
That’s not it, as the pic is going to be produced by Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman‘s T-Street alongside ShivHans Pictures. “Wake Up Dead Man,” “American Fiction,” “Fair Play,” “Snack Shack,” and the former Peacock series “Poker Face” are some of T-Street’s recent outings.
“Turpentine” is based on the Black List script penned by writer Justin Varava.
Previous feature work from Zobel, known for tackling projects with strong female lead characters, includes the controversial Betty Gilpin-led horror film “The Hunt” and “Z for Zachariah,” another thriller that starred Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chris Pine, and Margot Robbie (just after her breakout performance in “The Wolf of Wall Street“).
It’ll be interesting to see if McCarthy and Storrie ultimately walk away with lead roles, and who else will be enlisted for the film by Zobel. McCarthy will star opposite Clive Owen in Paramount+‘s “Unspeakable: The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey.”
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