Awkwafina, Karen Gillan starring in Amazon action-comedy described as "Mean Girls meets Barry"
Amazon is clearly not in the business of twisting arms around here. Per Deadline, the studio has acquired an upcoming action-comedy titled Shelly, described as “Mean Girls meets Barry,” with Awkwafina and Karen Gillan attached to star and wow, calm down, we’re sold already. There are more details, if you’re joyless enough to need them: Shelly will be directed by Jude Weng, a producer and filmmaker whose credits include the upcoming Netflix feature Finding Ohana, as well as episodes of The Good Place, Fresh Off The Boat, and Black-ish.
Based on a script by Michael Doneger and Liz Storm, Shelly follows the title character—Shelly Wheeler (Awkwafina), the victim of a prom prank so humiliating it forced her to move away from her hometown and gave her a much tougher exterior. A decade later, Shelly is a professional hit-woman who discovers her next target is Dianna (Karen Gillan), the popular girl who bullied Shelly in high school. The pair unexpectedly become friends, giving Shelly a taste of the high school experience she never had, and forcing her to protect Dianna from the new assassins sent to kill them both.
Amazon Studios will distribute Shelly, which reunites Awkwafina and Gillan, who previously starred together in Jumanji: The Next Level. Awkwafina is also joining Gillan in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton.