Warner Bros. Clockwork, which specializes in bringing “prestige indie” films to audiences, is excited to announce that Nasty, a drama starring Jenna Ortega (Wednesday, Miller’s Girl, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) and Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Insidious, Bridesmaids), is officially rolling cameras this fall. The project hails from Mary Bronstein, who directed and wrote If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, for which Byrne was nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars. Nasty is based on a 2024 Black List screenplay by Isabella Jarosz.
Ortega chalks up a physically demanding role
Jarosz’s Nasty follows “a prodigious athlete who is battling for a spot on the Olympic gymnastics team. However, she must overcome her biggest opponent: Her coach,” according to Deadline. The film has some high-profile production power, with Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap and Jenna Ortega producing.
In addition to announcing the project, Clockwork unveiled key art for the upcoming film, created by Mary Bronstein. The promo looks like a piece of olive-green construction paper with magazine-cutout letters in a ransom-note style. If you look carefully, you’ll see blood smears and Band-Aids placed on the paper at random, which makes me think Ortega’s character will bleed as her coach pushes her beyond her limits.
Ortega and Byrne’s latest projects
Jenna Ortega’s new film, Klara and the Sun, directed by Taika Waititi, arrives in theaters on October 23, 2026. In the film, Ortega plays Klara, a robot girl designed to prevent loneliness, who tries to save a heartbroken human family. Klara and the Sun is one of my most anticipated films of the year, as I loved the original story by Kazuo Ishiguro. Ortega also stars in J.J. Abrams’ next feature, The Great Beyond. The plot for Abrams’ next epic is unknown, though we know the film stars Ortega, Glen Powell, Samuel L. Jackson, Emma Mackay, Merritt Wever, and more.
Meanwhile, Rose Byrne recently completed work on Peacock’s upcoming adaptation of Karin Slaughter’s The Good Daughter. The story revolves around the Quinn sisters, Samantha and Charlotte, who have spent the last twenty-eight years trying to piece together the lives that were fractured by a single night of violence. Byrne plays Samantha opposite Meghann Fahy, who plays her sister, Charlotte.
Are you curious to learn more about Nasty? Will Jenna Ortega and Rose Byrne have great chemistry together? We’ll find out when more details about Nasty come to light.
The comment section exists to allow readers to discuss the article constructively and respectfully, focused on the topic at hand.
What’s Not Allowed