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Jake Johnson Turned an Existential Crisis Into His Directorial Debut
Inside the former New Girl star’s wild SXSW comedy about a deadly dark-web game.
His 90-page bible outlining three TV seasons’ worth is still sitting in a “dorky” folder on his computer labeled “Jake’s Writing.” Johnson pitched the premise to Netflix back in 2017, when New Girl was nearing its end, but executives at the streaming service told him it was too similar to Maniac, the sci-fi mind-bender starring Emma Stone and Jonah Hill. Johnson considered self-financing it, thinking he could adopt the same techniques used to make the low-budget romps he’s written with Joe Swanberg, such as Digging for Fire and Win It All. Johnson’s Drinking Buddies co-star Anna Kendrick signed on to play a fellow loner who joins Tommy as the game escalates, and Christopher Lloyd, Mary Holland, Natalie Morales, Emily Hampshire, and Dave ’s GaTa took other supporting roles.
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