Recently, a leaked casting notice hinted that Connor Storrie would star opposite Melissa McCarthy in a new film called Turpentine — and now, we can confirm that he’s in talks to star in the thriller from The Penguin‘s Craig Zobel.

No word yet on the role to be played by the Heated Rivalry star. News of his involvement comes following our story yesterday on McCarthy circling the project.

Based on a script by Justin Varava that made the 2024 Black List, Turpentine follows a deadbeat son who hires friends to rob his own parents to pay off a bookie, with disastrous results.

Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman’s T-Street is set to produce alongside Shivani Rawat’s ShivHans Pictures.

Storrie has broken out as one of the buzziest names in show business following the breakout success of Heated Rivalry, the queer hockey romance from Crave/HBO Max where he stars opposite Hudson Williams. He’s thus had his pick of projects and made the most of the moment, most recently entering talks to join the A24 comedy Peaked from Molly Gordon and Allie Levitan, as we first reported.

Storrie’s Heated Rivalry, an adaptation of the novels by Rachel Reid, centers on two fiercely competitive NHL superstars — Canadian Shane Hollander (Williams) and Russian Ilya Rozanov (Storrie) — who begin a secret, years-long enemies-with-benefits affair that slowly evolves into an all-consuming love neither of them is prepared to face. Created, written, and directed by Jacob Tierney, the show averaged over 10.6 million U.S. viewers on HBO Max in its first season, breaking ground as the platform’s most-watched acquired scripted series, and is heading into its second season.

Prior to starring in Heated Rivalry, Storrie appeared in smaller roles in projects like Tiny Beautiful Things and Joker: Folie à Deux. He recently made his debut as host of Saturday Night Live and is represented by CAA, Atlas Artists, and Yorn, Levine, Barnes.