With Netflix wrapping The Kissing Booth trilogy last year alongside the All The Boys movies, there’s not a lot of high-profile YA movies on the streaming site at the moment. However, that will change once Joey King’s latest project Uglies finally comes out following news of its development in late 2020. Scott Westerfield’s science fiction series has long been a huge bestseller for the young adult audience, and as it turns out, it’s coming sooner than we think.
CinemaBlend had the chance to speak with Joey King for her emotional Paramount+ romance, The In Between. During the conversation, the actress and producer spoke to us about where she’s at with Uglies’ production, and she gave us an amazing update. In King’s words:
I just finished filming The Uglies. I just got home from Atlanta, which is where we shot it just before Christmas. I can tell you that I am personally also a huge fan of the Uglies book series and this movie so far, from what I have seen, did on set and got to be a part of, it’s so good. I’m so excited.
The 22-year-old actress is a big fan of the YA book that first hit bookshelves in 2005 and spawned an eight-book series. The Uglies movie is being directed by McG, who previously helmed the early ‘00s Charlie’s Angels movies and Netflix’s Babysitter movies. King is starring in the film alongside Laverne Cox and a host of other young talent.
Hearing that Uglies has already been filmed and is currently in post-production is super exciting. What’s even better is how stoked Joey King was at the mention of Uglies during our interview. She seems super pumped to share the movie with her fellow Uglies fans once the movie gets finished.
Uglies is not currently part of Netflix’s 2022 release date calendar, but given the timeline, it is possible the movie could come our way before this year is over. The science fiction story follows a teenager named Tally Youngblood who lives in a dystopian world 3,000 years into the future where people are given plastic surgery at the age of 16 to become “pretty” and then cross to another part of the city to start their lives.
The Uglies storyline definitely is more relevant than ever considering face filters on social media like Instagram have become more prevalent in society, especially for the younger generation. After a few more straightforward romance YA adaptations, we’ll be excited to see Netflix delve into the sci-fi genre with this one.
While we anticipate Uglies, Joey King’s latest film is The In Between, which is a supernatural romance inspired by Ghost. Once you check out that movie with a Paramount+ subscription, check out what Joey King had to say about the ending for The In Between right here on CinemaBlend.
