Jason Segel Goes Dark as James Ponsoldt Sets Sponsor Thriller at Platinum Dunes and Apple Original Films
James Ponsoldt will steer Jason Segel into Sponsor, a psychological thriller backed by Apple Original Films and Platinum Dunes.
Apple is sticking with a pairing that clearly works: James Ponsoldt and Jason Segel. After linking up on Apple TV's Shrinking, the duo are moving into darker territory with a psychological thriller called Sponsor. Apple has picked up the global rights, Ponsoldt will direct, Segel will star, and the two wrote the script together. Simple, clean, and very much in their wheelhouse.
What the movie is
Sponsor centers on Peter, a guy who makes the worst possible choice after a wild night and gets behind the wheel. The crash that follows corners him into a blunt deal: go to prison or enter a recovery program. He swears he does not have a drinking problem, but he still drags himself to a meeting and starts looking for a sponsor. Then Jerry walks in — tough, charismatic, and just mysterious enough to feel like the solution to everything. Peter is convinced he has found his guy. The genre says otherwise.
Who is making it
- Director: James Ponsoldt
- Star: Jason Segel
- Screenplay: James Ponsoldt and Jason Segel
- Backer/Global rights: Apple, via Apple Studios (Deadline first reported the pickup)
- Producers: Jason Segel, James Ponsoldt, and Platinum Dunes partners Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, and Alex Ginno
- Banner: Platinum Dunes
- Previous Ponsoldt/Segel collaborations: - Shrinking on Apple TV, which Segel created with Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein; Ponsoldt directed eleven episodes, and both Segel and Ponsoldt are executive producers on the series. - The End of the Tour (2015), directed by Ponsoldt and based on David Lipsky's 2010 memoir 'Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself,' about the five-day road trip Lipsky took with David Foster Wallace. Segel played Wallace, with Jesse Eisenberg as Lipsky.
Why this pairing makes sense
Ponsoldt is excellent with character-led tension, and Segel has been leaning into more complex, melancholy roles for a while now. Shrinking already proved they click, and this setup screams a morally messy, slow-burn thriller rather than jump-scare horror. With Apple behind it, expect something polished and actor-forward.
About Platinum Dunes
The producers here are very at home in genre. Platinum Dunes has a long resume of remakes and reboots, including The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Amityville Horror, The Hitcher, Friday the 13th, and A Nightmare on Elm Street. They also produced The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, The Unborn, Horsemen, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Project Almanac, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Songbird, Drop, the Rosemary's Baby prequel Apartment 7A, and the A Quiet Place franchise. On top of that, they teamed with Blumhouse for The Purge films and the Ouija films. Short version: they know how to package and deliver a tense genre play.
Sponsor sounds like a grounded character spiral anchored by Segel and shaped by Ponsoldt, with Platinum Dunes adding their genre instincts and Apple providing the runway. No casting beyond Segel yet, but the hook is strong: the guy you think will save you might be the problem.