Simon Pegg survives a world where every phone explodes in his twisted new comedy

Simon Pegg's not exactly a stranger to the apocalypse, but this time he's swapping zombies and super-spies for something a bit more absurd: exploding smartphones. That's right, Pegg is headlining a new dark comedy called My Phone Died, and the premise is as bizarre as it sounds — mobile phones across the world suddenly go boom, with all the chaos you'd expect when everyone loses their favourite appendage.

Production on My Phone Died is lined up for spring 2027.

The Cast and the Big Bang

This one's bringing together an unexpected group. Alongside Pegg, you've got Mark Duplass and Haley Joel Osment. But don’t expect the usual disaster movie tropes — no grizzled heroes scaling burning towers or what have you. The film's all about a ragtag bunch whose lives are pretty bleak even before their mobiles start turning into mini hand grenades. Variety confirms that writers-directors Hannah Leder and Alexandra Kotcheff are not only behind the camera but acting as well. So, you’ve got that rare ‘everyone mucking in’ energy on set.

• Pegg is Gus, a Hollywood agent who somehow sidesteps the carnage — for now.
• Duplass plays one of Gus's clients, mainly obsessed with himself and not, it seems, long for this world.
• Osment is cast as a social media influencer in recovery, whose perfectly curated online image is about to meet reality.
• Kotcheff takes on Francis, who’s just left her Amish roots and gets mixed up with Osment’s character.
• Leder portrays Lillie, a pregnant would-be star suffering from agoraphobia.

The film will track these five unlucky souls as they try to work out what to do once everyone’s pocket bomb explodes and society follows shortly after. There's more than a whiff of farce in that setup, but the filmmakers seem to be steering away from easy gags, aiming instead for a bleak sort of comedy about modern dependence (obsession?) with phones.

Behind The Scenes

This is the second film Leder and Kotcheff have cooked up together — you might remember their 2019 indie, The Planters. They're not just writing, directing, and acting, but also producing via their own banner, Thank You So Much, with Kotcheff's Fire Tiger Films also on board. International sales are in the hands of Ashok Amritraj’s Hyde Park International, who snapped up the rights ahead of the American Film Market (so, expect a bit of a sales push soon).

So what’s left? Not much on release info — it’s all long lead, with filming only getting going next year. But between Pegg, Duplass, and Osment, you’re looking at a cast that genuinely can switch between laughs and actual dramatic chops, which is something you need if you’re going to have your entire plot hinge on killer phones.