The Story Behind an English Teacher’s Reddit Thread That Became Sydney Sweeney’s New Movie
A Massachusetts man's pandemic passion project has landed him a movie deal
The world is full of talented writers whose work never sees the light of day, but one lucky English teacher has been presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. Joe Cote, a Massachusetts educator, shared his short story, “I Pretended To Be a Missing Girl,” to Reddit back in 2020. Now, that story is being turned into a Hollywood film with the help of actress Sydney Sweeney.
How a pandemic passion project turned into a movie deal
The middle school teacher always had a knack for storytelling, even as a child, and he was lucky enough to explore it even further when his school gave him the opportunity to teach a creative writing elective course during the pandemic, he shared with Daily Mail. This inspired him to write “I Pretended To Be a Missing Girl” and share it to Reddit as a fun outlet during lockdown. The story quickly gained traction, attracting millions of views and catching the attention of a Hollywood talent manager. Fast forward to today, and that passion project has turned into a major film deal with Warner Bros., with Sydney Sweeney set to star and produce.
What is ‘I Pretended To Be a Missing Girl’ about?
Inspired by authors like Gillian Flynn and Anthony Horowitz, Cote penned his gripping short story that he decided to share on Reddit. “Mikayla Murray went missing twelve years ago, on the eve of her 18th birthday,” the story began. From there, his work takes readers on quite the adventure. The focus of the story isn’t Mikayla’s disappearance. Instead, it follows a down-on-her-luck woman who, out of desperation, hatches a plan to show up at Mikayla’s family’s doorstep and impersonate her for the night to steal a few things from her wealthy parents and leave before things progress.
“I was desperate. Homeless, and on the run,” the narrator describes herself. “Smoking a pack a day just to function. I owed a lot of money to the wrong people, for some other things that I’m not really proud of. I was stuck and needed a plan.”
Arriving at the home of Mikayla’s parents and brother, she was seemingly welcomed with open arms—by all except for Mikayla’s brother, who had an entirely different theory about what happened to his sister. A gripping read from start to finish, Cote didn’t expect the reaction he received from readers under his story—and he certainly didn’t expect to be contacted by a talent manager looking to represent him. Luckily, his skepticism didn’t prevent him from entertaining the messages he received, and now, his quarantine endeavor has launched him into the stratosphere of Hollywood.
“It’s surreal, and it’s so funny—just having the night that I had, the day that I had yesterday, and then this morning waking up and just, ‘All right, now I’ve got to go in and write bathroom passes and get these kids to do their study guides,’” Cote told Daily Mail of life after the news broke.
Sydney Sweeney’s role in the upcoming film
While Warner Bros. won the film’s rights, Sydney Sweeney’s production company, Fifty-Fifty Films will take the lead on producing in addition to a few others, with the actress set to star. As for the script, Eric Roth is the writer bringing it to life, known for his work on films like Forrest Gump (1994), Dune (2021), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and countless others. The original mastermind behind the story, Joe Cote, will serve as executive producer. Stay tuned for more info on this thrilling story!
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