Haley Lu Richardson is a star on the rise. Following back-to-back supporting roles in Edge of Seventeen and M. Night Shyamalan’s mind-bending Split, The Hollywood Reporter brings word that the young actress has signed on for The Pact.
Setting up shop at Universal, the comedy is coming by way of renown Pitch Perfect scribe Kay Cannon, who’s poised to make her directorial debut with a story that revolves around three distraught middle-aged parents who uncover their daughters’ pact to lose their virginity at prom. Together, they hatch a plan to prevent any and all sexual activity from occurring – much to the embarrassment of their next of kin – with a one-night operation that will surely bring about nine kinds of awkward encounters. Leslie Mann, Ike Barinholtz, and The Wall‘s John Cena are all on board as those flustered parents.
Even in its embryonic state, The Pact piques our curiosity as a property packed to the rafters with comedic potential. Much of that comedy will depend on whether Cannon’s directorial debut focuses on the bewildered teens or, in the more likely scenario, the parents out to wrap their babies in cotton wool just as they’re about to take the formative steps into adulthood and, frankly, indulge in a universal rite of passage. Screenwriting siblings Brian and Jim Kehoe hashed out the script, with help from Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg and Eben Russell.
The Pact opens on April 20th, 2018. Beyond that, Richardson has lined up a role in Columbus, while Kay Cannon is also committed to the release of another Universal property: Pitch Perfect 3. Look for the Barden Bellas to march into theaters on December 22nd, 2017.
