Ansel Elgort is set to star in the film adaptation based on Daniel Riley‘s GQ Magazine article, The Great High School Imposter. Mike Makowsky will adapt the story of a bright Ukranian kid who peeled five years off his age so that he could be adopted by a childless couple in a small Pennsylvania town, so he could stay in the country after a short stint in a work exchange program.
He went on to become the top student in his school, in contention for valedictorian and with elite colleges offering him scholarships. He had dreams of working for NASA until he was turned in by his fake parents, who allegedly were annoyed that young Artur Samarin wasn’t behaving enough like a domestic servant and began running away. They turned him in and painted him as a potential terrorist.
Makowsky recently penned Bad Education, which starred Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney and Ray Romano, and was based on corruption at his real-life high school, so this will be another high school-based film for him to tackle. His previous project, I Think We’re Alone Now, premiered at Sundance earlier this year. Both scripts had previously appeared on the 2016 version of The Black List.
Elgort broke out in Edgar Wright‘s Baby Driver last year, and most recently was attached to star in Steven Spielberg‘s remake of West Side Story.
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