Fresh off a very busy weekend of partying for Charli XCX’s birthday (although apparently it wasn’t quite as busy as certain gossip bloggers have made it out to be), Lukas Gage has a new lead role in a movie in his kitty – and it sounds like a wild role!

Deadline announced today that the well-known heartthrob will be seen alongside Josh Duhamel in a “black comedy crime thriller.” Full throttle mindset by director Patrick Brice (Crawl) based on the strange but true story of real-life businessman and con artist Todd Beckman.

Sure, they had us with “Lukas Gage,” but there are a few reasons why the entire sentence above should excite you even more. Let’s get into it, shall we?

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First of all, the story. DeadlineGage plays “young, burned-out” Blake Laubinger, who finds an unexpected mentor in Duhamel’s Todd Beckman, a “tanning salon mogul from the Midwest.” But as Blake approaches the business, he realizes it’s just a front for a drug empire – and now Todd has made him his latest recruit.

The screenplay by screenwriter Jake Disch is based on a play from the St. Louis Riverfront Times by Doyle Murphy, titled “The Long, Violent Fall of Tanning Salon Mogul Todd Beckman.” Beckman, the founder of the TanCo tanning salon chain, was something of a local Midwestern legend, a cult of personality, an ever-growing lifestyle empire that included gyms, massage parlors, nutritional supplement stores and, oh, a massive drug trade.

Of course, there was plenty of darkness lurking beneath that fragile surface. Murphy’s reporting details the bloody and brutal series of events that led to Beckman’s shady dealings coming to light – and it’s well worth the read!

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It should be noted, however, that the article only briefly mentions that Blake Laubinger was a “young drug dealer who started as an investor in one of Beckman’s gyms and became an awed protégé,” so one can imagine Full throttle mindset will further flesh out the development of the couple’s complicated, “almost paternalistic” partnership.

And the sound alone suggests that Gage will pull off the role perfectly. In his career so far, the openly known actor has made a habit of playing morally questionable characters (You, euphoria, Fargo), especially aimless young people with strained relationships with older men (Deep down, The White Lotus).

Another reason to look forward to it Full throttle mindset is the director Patrick Brice. The filmmaker’s work tends to mix sharp, biting social satire with genre tropes – from the provocative couple comedy The Overnight to the modern teen slasher There is someone in your house– this material is therefore exactly within his area of ​​responsibility.

In addition, many of Brice’s films focus on LGBTQ+ characters or deal with queer themes. In fact, he made his directorial debut with Crawlabout a videographer who answers a personal ad to help a dying man in his isolated home, where things quickly take a disturbing turn. The surprise indie horror was a word-of-mouth hit, but was also extremely controversial – both praised and criticized for the way it exploited the “gay panic” between these characters.

(Interestingly, Brice also once directed a film called Party & Lootdescribed as Exit-style horror story with a twist involving a gay sugar daddy, but that seems to be on hold for now.)

In other words, there may be no queer aspect to the actual story Full throttle mindset but we wouldn’t be surprised if the film adaptation found a way to explore similar themes within the homosocial bonds of its hypermasculine, highly volatile world.

Described as an “absurd cautionary tale about false American dreams and dark mentors,” Full throttle mindset Production is scheduled to begin later this year, so stay tuned for further updates and casting announcements.

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And it’s just another project to add to Gage’s always busy schedule, which includes the horror sequel coming this fall. Smile 2mysterious science fiction film companion with Harvey Guillén and Yellow Jackets” Sophie Thatcher and another exciting crime novel Young Lust to Judge Smith.

This guy just knows how to stay booked and busy, and to that we say:

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