Simon Pegg, Mark Duplass and Haley Joel Osment Join Dark Comedy 'My Phone Died'

Simon Pegg will play a Hollywood agent in the dark comedy "My Phone Died," with Mark Duplass and Haley Joel Osment attached to star. Hyde Park International has acquired all international rights to the film ahead of the American Film Market. Production is set to begin in the spring of 2027.

The film comes from the filmmaking duo Hannah Leder and Alexandra Kotcheff, who will write, direct and co-star. It is a Fire Tiger Films and Thank You So Much production, the pair's respective companies, and marks their second feature together as writer-directors following the 2019 indie comedy-drama "The Planters."

According to the synopsis, the premise is blunt: smartphones start exploding around the globe, and it is the end of the world as we know it. For a handful of survivors, the apocalypse may be a new beginning.

Who plays whom?

The cast breakdown, as announced:

• Simon Pegg ("Mission: Impossible") plays agent Gus, who narrowly escapes the phone apocalypse.
• Mark Duplass ("The Morning Show," "Creep") plays one of Gus's self-obsessed clients, who does not survive it.
• Haley Joel Osment ("The Sixth Sense," "Blink Twice") plays a recovering alcoholic and social media influencer.
• Alexandra Kotcheff plays Francis, who has abandoned her Amish community for Osment's character.
• Hannah Leder plays Lillie, an agoraphobic and heavily pregnant wannabe-actress whose mother, a shotgun-wielding stoker of survival instincts, rounds out the group.

What does the deal mean for the film?

The Hyde Park acquisition puts Ashok Amritraj's sales outfit behind international distribution, positioning the project for buyers gathering at the American Film Market. Carl Clifton of Hyde Park International gave the film a full-throated endorsement: "My Phone Died is a mad gem of a movie. It's hilarious, smart and utterly original and there's a genuine warmth that Hannah and Alexandra bring to their characters and every aspect of their filmmaking, that will make for a totally adorable, zeitgeisty and life-affirming movie."

Leder and Kotcheff framed the project against the current cultural moment. "We're over the moon to be working with this extraordinary cast and Hyde Park, a company that champions original, global cinema," the pair said. "Our world feels like it's teetering on the brink of mind-blowing innovation and total self-destruction. 'My Phone Died' is our grappling with that, and our nostalgia for simpler times."

A second act for Leder and Kotcheff

The directing duo built their reputation on "The Planters," the 2019 acclaimed indie comedy-drama that established their writer-director partnership. "My Phone Died" scales up that collaboration with a recognizable cast led by Pegg, whose franchise credentials span "Mission: Impossible," and Duplass, a staple of American independent film and television.

Osment, whose career runs from "The Sixth Sense" to Zoë Kravitz's "Blink Twice," continues his run of offbeat roles as an influencer in recovery. The character roster — agent, Amish defector, influencer, agoraphobic expectant mother and her armed mother — signals a chamber-piece comedy about people forced offline.

Representation

Simon Pegg is represented by Dawn Sedgwick Management. Haley Joel Osment is represented by John Griffin at Griffin Talent and Kristin Kong at MGMT. Mark Duplass is represented by Layne Murrow and Jessica DiBiase at CAA. Hannah Leder is represented by Mark Hartogsohn at Gersh.

With sales launching at AFM and a spring 2027 shoot on the calendar, "My Phone Died" will test whether buyers share Clifton's conviction that an exploding-phone apocalypse can carry both warmth and commercial weight.