Amazon MGM Studios has taken worldwide rights to Throttled, a feature adaptation of Lauren Asher‘s motorsport racing romance novel, to star Josh Heuston of the hit romantic drama series, Off Campus.
The first book in Asher’s Dirty Air series, Throttled tells the story of an ambitious young woman who joins her brother on the racing circuit and falls into a forbidden, high-stakes romance with her brother’s ruthless teammate and fiercest racing rival, played by Heuston.
Nzingha Stewart is set to direct the streaming title from a script adapted by Melissa Osborne. Max Handelman and Elizabeth Banks of Brownstone Productions are producing along with Ethea Entertainment’s Jennifer Gibgot and Andrew Panay, as well as Garrett Grant. Alison Small of Brownstone Productions and author Asher are exec producing.
Virtually every member of this package has history with Amazon MGM. In addition to Heuston, this includes Stewart, who comes to the project after earning Emmy, DGA and PGA Award nominations for her work on the hit Prime Video series, Daisy Jones & the Six; screenwriter Osborne, who penned Prime Video’s My Fault: London; and producer Grant, who worked on The Man With the Bag, the Christmas action comedy coming to Prime Video December 2, which stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Alan Ritchson.
Most recently, Banks and her Brownstone set up a Prime Video series centered on the Karen Read trials, where Banks would play the lead role and exec produce. Ethea is coming off The Last Sunrise, Prime’s film adaptation of the Anna Todd romance novel, after producing the After films based on Todd’s books. Most recently, they set up House of Crowns, a romance series in early development at Amazon MGM, based on a forthcoming novel from Todd.
Bestselling author Asher has sold more than five million books worldwide, with her Dirty Air series being translated into 14 languages. She is repped by Kimberly Brower at Park, Fine & Brower Literary Management and Marisa Kapust at Toczek Suddleson Law Group.
Heuston plays musician Justin Kohl in Off Campus, Prime Video’s recent college-based romantic drama that attracted 36 million worldwide viewers in its first 12 days of release, delivering the streamer its third most-viewed debut season ever behind The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and Fallout. Also seen in the Cannes horror thriller Dangerous Animals, Netflix’s Heartbreak High and HBO Max’s Dune: Prophecy, the Australian actor is repped by UTA, 44 Media Partners and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher.
Brownstone is repped by UTA, Untitled Entertainment, and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole; Stewart by Entertainment 360, UTA, and Ryan Nord; and Osborne by Casarotto Ramsay and Associates, Artists First, Kim Stenton at Myman Greenspan Fox.
