John C. Reilly and Jason Segel Team Up for Apple’s Gripping Recovery Thriller Sponsor

John C. Reilly boards Sponsor with Jason Segel, a psychological recovery thriller at Apple from the Shrinking creators.

Apple is lining up a recovery thriller with a twist: Jason Segel and John C. Reilly, two guys who can make you laugh, are teaming for something a lot darker. It is called Sponsor, and yes, it leans straight into addiction, denial, and the weird power dynamics that can come with asking for help.

So what is Sponsor?

The setup is simple and messy: Peter (Segel) parties too hard, gets behind the wheel, and causes a serious accident. When the consequences land, he is offered a choice: prison or a recovery program. He swears he does not have a drinking problem, but he shows up anyway and goes looking for a sponsor. Enter Jerry, played by Oscar nominee John C. Reilly — a no-nonsense presence with enough charisma and mystery to make Peter think he has found a shortcut to salvation. That is where the psychological thriller part kicks in.

Who is making it

Sponsor comes from Apple Studios for Apple Original Films, with production by Platinum Dunes — the Michael Bay outfit best known for genre swings. Segel came up with the original idea alongside his Shrinking collaborator James Ponsoldt, and both of them are producing. Platinum Dunes partners Michael Bay and Brad Fuller are on board as producers too, along with Alex Ginno. The film is set to shoot in California.

Cast

Jason Segel is Peter. John C. Reilly is Jerry. On paper, that pairing makes a lot of sense — both can flip from warm to unnerving in a heartbeat, which is exactly the tension this story needs.

What Reilly has been up to

Reilly recently played Lakers owner Jerry Buss on HBO's Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, and he popped up as Archibald Harold Holmes in a Jack White music video of the same name. Coming next:

• How to Rob a Bank, a heist film directed by David Leitch, with a stacked cast that includes Zoe Kravitz, Nicholas Hoult, Christian Slater, Anna Sawai, Pete Davidson, Sam Lerner, and Rhenzy Feliz.
• Dara Van Dusen's A Prayer for the Dying, set in 1879 Wisconsin, about a sheriff forced to choose between protecting his family and defending the community that gave him a second chance.
• Alex Prager's horror thriller Dreamquil, where a woman joins a virtual wellness retreat to get her life on track and ends up in a waking nightmare.

Bottom line

Sponsor sounds like the kind of character piece that lures you in with a redemption arc and then quietly twists the knife. Segel and Reilly facing off under the Platinum Dunes banner for Apple is an intriguing mix. Curious to see how far they push the mentor-sponsor dynamic before it starts to curdle.

Does this pairing work for you? And are you into Segel and Ponsoldt tackling a psychological thriller lane together?