McG has teamed up with Kevin Hart for a high-concept action comedy in the works at Netflix. And this one comes with some big names on the screenwriting and producing side.
Hart is set to star in the untitled project with McG set to direct the feature, returning him to the genre that jumpstarted his features career with Charlie’s Angels more than 25 years ago.
Producing the project are Shawn Levy, Dan Levine and Emily Morris for 21 Laps, the banner behind Netflix’s Stranger Things, as well as Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort. Levy and Reynolds have frequently collaborated, making such films as Deadpool & Wolverine, Free Guy and Netflix’s The Adam Project, which Levy directed and starred Reynolds. In this case, they are working together just as producers.
Hart is also producing via his banner Hartbeat, along with the company’s Luke Kelly-Clyne and Bryan Smiley.
The logline concerns two rival spies who cross paths in a Lamaze class as their wives become fast friends. With their double lives colliding in unexpectedly hilarious and dangerous ways, the two men are forced to reluctantly become confidantes and partners on the road to fatherhood.
Adam and Aaron Nee, who wrote the Sandra Bullock-Channing Tatum romantic action comedy The Lost City and who also worked on the upcoming Masters of the Universe, are the writers on the script along with Jonathan Tropper. The latter is a part of the Levy repertoire, having worked on his This Is Where I Leave You and Adam Project.
The script is based on a short story by Sean Lewis.
Both Hart and McG have strong ties to Netflix. Hart is the subject of Netflix’s The Roast of Kevin Hart, which will debut May 10 and has comedy competition series Funny AF with the company. He also toplines 72 Hours, its comedy directed by Tim Story that premieres July 24.
McG’s last five movies have been for Netflix. The director has spent decade or so focused on making movies in the teen scene, whether it’s the horror comedies of The Babysitter and sequel The Babysitter: Killer Queen, or the YA sci-fi films such as Rim of the World and The Uglies. He also helmed body-switching family comedy Family Switch, which starred Jennifer Garner and Ed Helms.
The director got his feature start with action comedies, famously directing the Charlie’s Angels movies in the early 2000s. He also helmed Terminator: Salvation and We Are Marshall, and previously worked in the spy-vs-spy genre with This Means War, which starred Chris Pine, Tom Hardy, and Reese Witherspoon.
McG is repped by WME and Sloane Offer. Hart is repped by WME and 3 Arts Entertainment. Lewis is repped by WME.
