Four years ago, a high school English teacher posted a short story to Reddit, a tale with Gone Girl-worthy twists and turns. Now, Joe Cote is in the midst of his own real-life plot twist.
The Massachusetts-based educator’s project is in development as a feature, with Sydney Sweeney attached to star and produce, and Oscar-winning Forrest Gump scribe Eric Roth penning the script.
Warner Bros. has won the rights to the package in a competitive situation that now puts the teacher on Hollywood’s radar. He first landed representation after manager Aaron Folbe of Underground Entertainment stumbled upon the story and sought Cote out for a meeting.
Sweeney’s involvement on the project then pushed it into overdrive, with her bringing Roth aboard.
Cote’s story, titled “I pretended to be a missing girl so I could rob her family,” centers on a young woman who shows up at a family’s doorsteps ten years after their 18-year-old daughter went missing. Her plan is to convince the family she is their missing child, and stay just for one night — long enough to steal some valuables and get away.
No director is attached, and Roth will commence work on the script.
Sweeney will star and produce via her Fifty-Fifty Films, along with Underground’s Trevor Engelson and Folbe, Room 101’s Steven Schneider, and Vertigo’s Roy Lee and Mira Yoon. Cote will executive produce.
Sweeney is one of the top young actors in Hollywood, with her star power and marketing savvy helping her Glenn Powell two-hander Anyone But You become one of the surprise box office breakouts of 2023. She also starred in and produced Immaculate for Neon, and broke out with Emmy-nominated performances in Euphoria and The White Lotus. She is repped by Paradigm, Hansen Jacobson.
Roth is a veteran writer whose credits span The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, A Star Is Born, Dune: Part One and Killers of the Flower Moon. He is repped by CAA, Lenore Entertainment Group and Jackoway Austen.
Cote, who has other stories in his library, is repped by Underground.
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