Benedict Wong, ‘Bel-Air’ Star Jabari Banks Set for English-Language Remake of ‘Bad Genius’

Callina Liang will also star in the project from Picturestart and Picture Perfect Federation.

Benedict Wong, Bel-Air star Jabari Banks, and Callina Liang are set to star in the English-language remake of Thai hit Bad Genius.

Picturestart and Picture Perfect Federation are behind the project that will be directed by JC Lee from a script he wrote with Julius Onah. Shooting is expected to begin this May.

The film's synopsis describes it as "a high-stakes, high-octane thriller about a diverse group of young people who team up to fight the system of injustice and inequity and take down the rigged academic institutions around them."

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The original film, titled Chalard Games Goeng (Bad Genius), was written and directed by Nattawut Poonpiriya and produced by Thai film studio GDH 559 Company Limited. Released in 2017, the film broke box office records in Thailand, including becoming the highest-grossing Thai film of the year.

Erik Feig and Jessica Switch will produce via the Picturestart with Picture Perfect Federation's Patrick Wachsberger and Ashley Stern and Mallory Edens' Little Ray Media financing. Little Ray Media's Mallory Edens, Picturestart's Julia Hammer, and Wong will exec produce. International distribution partners have already been secured, including StudioCanal in the U.K.

Wong was most recently seen in the latest Doctor Strange film, The Multiverse of Madness. He is repped by Hirsch Wallerstein. He is set for Netflix's Three Body Problem from David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

Banks, repped by WME, Frontline Management, and Granderson Des Rochers, currently stars in Peacock's The Fresh Prince Bel-Air remake, Bel-Air.

Liang, repped by Authentic, the U.K.'s Payne Management, and Goodman Genow, stars in the ITV series Tell Me Everything.

Lee, who will be making his feature directorial debut on the film, has served as a producer and writer on The Morning Show and How to Get Away with Murder, among other projects.