EXCLUSIVE: Vertical has acquired North American rights to Bad Genius , an English-language remake of the Thai thriller of the same name, from Picturestart, Picture Perfect Federation and Little Ray Media. The film marks the directorial debut of veteran producer JC Lee, whose credits include The Morning Show and How to Get Away with Murder, and hits select theaters in the U.S. and Canada on October 11.

Bad Genius is a high-stakes thriller about a diverse group of college students who band together to challenge a system of injustice and inequality and take down the rigged academic institutions around them. The original Thai version, released in 2017, was written and directed by Nattawut Poonpiriya and produced by Thai film studio GDH 559 Company Limited. In addition to debuting at #1 at the box office in Thailand, the film quickly became the highest-grossing Thai film of the year and the most internationally successful Thai film of all time, breaking box office records in several Asian countries, including China.

Lee wrote the script for the remake with Julius Onah, with whom he previously collaborated on the Sundance Grand Jury Prize-nominated Luce, based on Lee's play of the same name. The film's cast includes Callina Liang (Presence), Jabari Banks (Bel-Air), Taylor Hickson (Motherland: Fort Salem) and Benedict Wong (3 Body Problem).

Erik Feig, Jessica Switch, Patrick Wachsberger, Ashley Stern and Mallory Edens produced the new version, with Samie Kim Falvey, Julia Hammer and Wong serving as executive producers.