Courteney Cox Is Directing a True-Crime Thriller, and It All Started With a Casual Chat at a Beverly Hills Hotel

Courteney Cox is stepping back behind the camera for a new project and she owes it all to a chance encounter.

The actress and filmmaker is set to direct Evil Genius, a true-crime thriller that will star Patricia Arquette and David Harbour. But the film might never have happened if Cox hadn’t struck up a conversation with documentary filmmaker Barbara Schroeder at the Beverly Hills Hotel back in 2018.

“She said, ‘It’s available to direct.’ She goes, ‘You should run with it,'” Cox recalled of their meeting.

The encounter sparked something. Cox, best known for playing Monica Geller on Friends, learned that Schroeder’s acclaimed documentary Evil Genius: The True Story of America’s Most Diabolical Bank Heist could be adapted into a scripted feature film. Despite obstacles along the way, Cox remained drawn to the project because of her fascination with the case itself.

Evil Genius will revisit the infamous 2003 “pizza bomber” case a bizarre and chilling true crime story centered on Brian Wells, a pizza delivery driver forced to rob a bank while wearing an explosive device. The case captivated the nation and later became the subject of the Netflix documentary that caught Cox’s attention.

The film will take a scripted dramatic approach to the story, with Arquette and Harbour leading an ensemble cast that includes Michael Chernus, Garret Dillahunt, and Danielle Macdonald. Cox’s daughter Coco and Arquette’s daughter Harlow will both appear in the film making it a family affair for the director.

This marks Cox’s first feature film directing gig since 2014, when she helmed Just Before I Go. Beyond her work as a director, she remains a recognizable face in Hollywood as the star of the Scream franchise and various television projects.

Evil Genius is expected to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, giving audiences an early look at Cox’s take on one of America’s most puzzling criminal cases.