Jason Bateman And Taron Egerton Cast In New A Netflix Thriller

Jason Bateman and Taron Egerton are teaming up for a new Netflix thriller that could be one of the streamer's best

By Doug Norrie | Published

jason bateman taron egerton

It looks like the relationship between Jason Bateman and Netflix will continue to be a fruitful one. He’s coming off wrapping up the popular series Ozark which concluded its four-season run earlier this spring. And now he’s teaming up with another star for what could be a pretty solid new movie. Deadline has it that Jason Bateman and Taron Egerton will both star in Carry On for the streamer and from the looks of things it’s going to be a thriller through and through. There are already some other names attached and this could be a solid addition to the streamer which continues to churn out high-quality, and fan-engaging content built around proven stars. 

From the early loglines, it looks likes Carry On takes its name from the form of luggage going on to airplanes. That’s because Jason Bateman will play a mysterious traveler who blackmails a TSA agent (played by Taron Egerton) into letting a package slip through security. What unfolds next isn’t quite clear, but sticking in the thriller genre should have this playing out in a tense way between the two characters and the larger airport and airline setting in general. While Jason Bateman’s career isn’t exactly synonymous with the villain type, that has started to shift with his most recent work on Ozark.

That’s because on Ozark Jason Bateman played Marty Byrd, one half of the Byrd couple who made their bones helping to launder money for the Mexican drug cartel. While Bateman’s character, in many ways, was easy to root for, there was no doubt that his character had a number of evil and emotionless (all business) traits that allowed him to do business this way. It was a masterful acting performance and we could see some of the steely demeanor carry over in his dealings with Taron Egerton’s character. There’s a good chance we have a hit on our hands with this one.

Also on board with Jason Bateman and Taron Egerton in Carry On will be director Jaume Collet-Serra who has some experience with these taut and tense films in the past. He’s helmed flicks like Non-Stop (some more airplane work) as well as Run All Night, The Commuter, and even The Shallows. He’s also directing what will be one of the blockbusters of next summer with Black Adam in Dwayne Johnson’s introduction into the DC Extended Universe.

As for Taron Egerton, this will be his first time working with Jason Bateman, and is coming off the miniseries Black Bird which was developed by Dennis Lehane and also starred Paul Walter Hauser, Greg Kinnear, and the late Ray Liotta among others. He also has the live-action adaptation of Tetris coming down the pike as well.

In addition to signing on big names like Jason Bateman, Taron Egerton, and Jaume Collet-Serra, this will be the first movie in the new partnership between Netflix and Amblin Entertainment. The plan is for the movie to hit the streamer sometime next year with development likely to get underway sooner than later now that the leads are cast.