Hayden Panettiere, Tyler James Williams star in thriller


Hayden Panettiere and Tyler James Williams star in the thriller Amber Alert, which has been acquired by Lionsgate

Hayden Panettiere of Heroes, Scream 4, and Scream VI shares the screen with Tyler James Williams of Everybody Hates Chris, Abbott Elementary, and The Walking Dead in the thriller Amber Alert. Deadline reports that Lionsgate has acquired the worldwide rights to the film, which flew under the radar as it made its way through production and is now in post-production.

Amber Alert was directed by Kerry Bellessa, who also wrote the screenplay with Joshua Oram. Bellessa’s previous credits include the 2022 horror film Immanence and a 2012 thriller that was also called Amber Alert… so apparently this is a reimagining of Bellessa’s previous film. The new take on Amber Alert will show us what happens when an ordinary ride share becomes a high-stakes game of cat and mouse. The story follows Jaq (Hayden Panettiere) who is eager to get to her first day at a new job, and her driver, Shane (Tyler James Williams), who is just trying to earn a little extra at his side hustle. An alert of a child abduction on their phones will change all that when they discover they are behind a car that matches the description of the kidnapper’s. Unable to let a possible child trafficker escape, they begin a pursuit that will put their own lives at risk.

The 2012 version of Amber Alert, also written by Bellessa and Oram, had the following synopsis: When a group of friends decides to follow a car they’ve seen posted on an Amber Alert, things start to go very wrong.

The new Amber Alert is being produced by Joseph Restaino and Tony Stopperan of Hungry Bull Productions, which is best known for bringing us Michael Sarnoski’s Pig, starring Nicolas Cage and Alex Wolff. Kerry Bellessa is also producing, alongside Summer Bellessa (who starred in the original film) for Bluefields Entertainment. Leal Naim is a producer on the project as well. The film is being co-financed by Hungry Bull Productions and Three Point Capital. Panettiere and Williams serve as executive producers. Lionsgate will be handling the domestic distribution.

Are you interested in seeing Hayden Panettiere and Tyler James Williams in the new Amber Alert? Have you seen the original film? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Tyler James Williams Abbott Elementary

About the Author

Cody is a news editor and film critic, focused on the horror arm of JoBlo.com, and writes scripts for videos that are released through the JoBlo Originals and JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channels. In his spare time, he’s a globe-trotting digital nomad, runs a personal blog called Life Between Frames, and writes novels and screenplays.