There are actors you look at, and then there are actors who look back. Rome Flynn is firmly in the second category — the kind of man whose photos suggest he’s contemplating something profound, possibly your entire soul, and definitely not blinking about it. Which is precisely why we’re thrilled (and mildly endangered) by the news that he’s joined the cast of Throttled, the adaptation of the beloved racing romance series from Lauren Asher.
Flynn will play Jax Kingston, a highly skilled and fiercely competitive driver for Team McCoy who shares a particularly tense rivalry with Noah Slade. Fans of the books already know what this means – Kingston is the male protagonist of Wrecked, the third book in the series — a man who battles anxiety and compensates with the one quality that defines him completely – loyalty.
We’re not saying we’re already emotional about it. We’re saying we’ve been emotional about it since the press release.
For the uninitiated, Throttled stars Nicole Wallace as Maya Alatorre, an ambitious young woman who joins her brother on the racing circuit and falls into a forbidden, high-stakes romance with his ruthless teammate and fiercest rival, Noah Slade (Josh Heuston). Julio Peña plays Santi Alatorre, Maya’s older brother and a driver on the circuit, and Mia McKenna-Bruce rounds out the ensemble as Sophie, Maya’s best friend.
The casting department on this project deserves a raise, a trophy, and possibly an all expenses paid vacation, becaise they delivered on this one. Wallace, Heuston, Peña, McKenna-Bruce, and now Flynn in the mix? The adaptation is shaping up to honor the source material — and then some. Consider us in the grandstand, snacks ready, feelings unprepared.
BEHIND THE SCENES
Nzingha Stewart will be directing the project. Max Handelman and Elizabeth Banks of Brownstone Productions are producing along with Ethea Entertainment’s Jennifer Gibgot and Andrew Panay. Garrett Grant is also producing, with Alison Small of Brownstone Productions and Asher executive producing.
Ethea Entertainment is definitely making a name for themselves in the world of romance and adaptations. Gibgot and Panay of Ethea recently produced The Last Sunrise, Prime’s film adaptation of Anna Todd‘s bestselling romance novel, after producing the After films also 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.
Melissa Osborne, who wrote Prime Video’s My Fault: London has adapted the book.
Lauren Asher has sold more than five million books worldwide and the Dirty Air series being translated into 14 languages. In addition to Throttled (2020) – the series also includes Collided (2020), Wrecked (2020) and Redeemed (2021).
Amazon MGM Studios has landed worldwide distribution rights for the film, which will be available in more than 240 countries and territories on Prime Video.
