Chris Hemsworth, Miles Teller, Jurnee Smollett Starring in Netflix’s ‘Spiderhead’

Chris Hemsworth, Miles Teller, and Jurnee Smollett will lend their combined star wattage to Netflix’s “Spiderhead,” Variety has confirmed.

The film is an adaptation of a George Saunders short story that first ran in The New Yorker and was later included in the author’s book, “Tenth of December.” It unfolds in the near future and follows two convicts who are housed in a facility run by a doctor who experiments on inmates with powerful drugs that alter emotions.

It’s the latest high-profile project for Netflix, which has been spending freely in recent weeks to land buzzy films. At the Toronto International Film Festival, it shelled out $30 million for “Malcolm & Marie” with Zendaya and John David Washington, $20 million for Halle Berry’s directorial debut “Bruised” and an undisclosed, but almost certainly eye-popping, sum for “Pieces of a Woman” with Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf. It’s not the only streamer waving around its checkbook of late — not to be outdone, Apple shelled out $40 million this week for “Cherry” with Tom Holland.

Joseph Kosinski, who is directing “Top Gun: Maverick,” which will feature Teller, will slide behind the camera on “Spiderhead.” Kosinski and Teller also collaborated on “Only the Brave.” Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who penned “Deadpool” and “Zombieland,” will write the screenplay.

In addition to playing Thor in the Avengers franchise, Hemsworth recently starred in the Netflix thriller “Extraction.” Teller’s credits include “Whiplash” and “War Dogs.” Smollett appeared in “Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey” and can currently be seen in HBO’s “Lovecraft Country.”

Deadline first reported the news about “Spiderhead.”

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