EXCLUSIVE: A24 is set to produce Jonty, a new comedy starring Oscar nominee Jesse Plemons (Bugonia) in the title role opposite Tony winner Cole Escola (Oh, Mary!).
Plot details are under wraps. Two-time Emmy nominee Lorene Scafaria (Hustlers) will direct from a script co-written by her Emmy-winning Succession collaborator Jesse Armstrong as well as Sam Bain, a BAFTA winner who worked with Armstrong on the film Four Lions and Channel Four’s Peep Show.
In addition to A24, producers include Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen of Square Peg, as well as Lorne Michaels and Erin David of Broadway Video. Emily Hildner and Micah Frank will exec produce alongside Plemons, Armstrong, and Bain.
Oscar-nominated for his work in Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog, Plemons has most recently been seen starring in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds of Kindness, Netflix’s Zero Day opposite Robert De Niro, and Black Mirror — reprising his Season 4 role of creepy video game architect Robert Daly in Season 7’s “USS Callister: Into Infinity.” Most recently, the actor has reteamed with Lanthimos and his Kinds of Kindness co-star Emma Stone on Focus’ darkly comedic genre-bender Bugonia, which premiered at Venice and will be released in theaters on October 24. Upcoming, he’s set to play Plutarch Heavensbee — a role previously inhabited by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman — in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. Additionally, he’ll be seen starring alongside Tom Cruise in Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s forthcoming film for Warner Bros.
Escola most recently starred in the smash anthem Broadway play Oh Mary!, which they also wrote. For their performance in the play, which was a 2025 Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Drama, they were recognized earlier this year with a Tony for Best Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role in a Play. Oh, Mary! broke box office records at the Lyceum Theatre and, in addition to receiving two Tony Awards, earned a New York Drama Critics’ Circle Special Citation, a Drama Desk Award, a Theatre World Award, two Outer Critics Circle Awards, and an Obiee Award. Escola has also won a WGA Award for their work on At Home with Amy Sedaris. Additional credits include Fantasmas, Difficult People, Man Seeking Woman, Search rave, and Mozart in the Jungle.
Scafaria has been nominated for two Emmys and a DGA Award for her work on Armstrong’s lauded HBO drama, Succession. Previously, she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for directing Hustlers, starring Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu, which she also wrote. Additional credits include writing and directing The Meddler and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, and penning Sony’ss adaptation of the book Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Most recently, she directed the pilot and served as an EP on the upcoming HBO series I Love LA, created by Rachel Sennott.
Scafaria is repped by UTA and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern; Armstrong by UTA, 42, and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole; Bain by UTA, 42, Gotham Group, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman; Plemons by TalentWorks and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum; and Escola by UTA, Rise, and Schreck Rose Dapello.
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