Closely following the release of Andrew McCarthy’s documentary / filmed therapy session Brats, which reveals the impact the publication of the article that dubbed some of the young actors of the ’80s “the Brat Pack” had on McCarthy’s life and career (despite the article specifying that McCarthy was not a member of the Brat Pack), comes the news that McCarthy has a role in the sci-fi thriller Orion, which has just wrapped production in New York. Also in the Orion cast are Debby Ryan (Shortcomings), Drew Van Acker (Last Survivors), Karin Ann (The Tattooist of Auschwitz), Natalia Lesz (Krime Story), Daniel Bisla (Ghost Adventures), and Theodora Miranne (The Blacklist: Redemption).
Directed by Jaco Bouwer (Gaia) from a screenplay by first-time writer Anne Vithayathil, the film centers on a heated interrogation between a U.S. Intelligence expert tasked to help an amnesiac astronaut recover his memory in order to determine “who” or “what” killed the rest of the crew before they crash landed back on Earth.
Van Acker is producing Orion with Scott Army, Elle Army, and Sunil Perkash. Perkash told Deadline that Orion is “a very unique world building sci fi thriller that relies on incredibly strong performances from all of the cast and the meticulously curated world building by our director, Jaco Bouwer. We could not be more excited to bring our clever twisting and turning film to audiences worldwide soon.“
Despite McCarthy believing that the “Brat Pack” label that some, including himself, mistakenly thought was applied to him in addition to some of his St. Elmo’s Fire co-stars had a negative impact on his career (we know for sure the “Brat Pack” label killed a movie he was going to do with Emilio Estevez), he has continued working steadily as an actor over the decades, even scoring a post-Brat Pack hit with Weekend at Bernie’s, and has recently become a prolific TV director as well. Orion sounds like an interesting project, and I look forward to seeing how it turns out.
Does a sci-fi thriller starring Andrew McCarthy sound interesting to you? Share your thoughts on Orion by leaving a comment below.