Seeing double: Dylan O’Brien to play twins in gay filmmaker’s “bromantic” new comedy

Dylan O’Brien, the man—men?—that you are.

One of the internet’s favorite crushes, the 32-year-old actor just keeps giving us what we want: Seeing more of him on screen. A whole lot more!

This week, it was announced that O’Brien will star in a new dark comedy called Twinless where he’ll play a set of twins (which we’re sure is a fantasy of some of you out there, but we’re not judging!).

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The catch is that—as the title might suggest—we’re not so sure his twin characters will actually be sharing the screen. The film actually follows two young men who meet in a “twin bereavement support group,” which we can only assume means they both have a sibling who has passed.

So even though Twinless might not give us the Dylan O’Brien x2 we were hoping for, there are still plenty of reasons to get excited, including that fact that he’ll star opposite gay actor/writer/director James Sweeney.

And this is really great news because we’re huge fans of Sweeney’s last feature, Straight Up, a hilarious and heartfelt rom-com that subverts expectations, telling the story of an anxious gay man who thinks he’s found his soulmate—a woman—and the two decide to take a chance at sexless romance.

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(Straight Up also stars Queerty favorites cuties like James Scully and Brendan Scannell, and is streaming via Kanopy right now—so run, don’t walk, and check it out ASAP!)

As Deadline reports, O’Brien and Sweeney will play the two young men who meet in the support group—presumably grieving their siblings—and strike up an unlikely yet “bromantic” relationship.

Bromance, you say? Does that mean there could be some sort of a spark between their characters? Perhaps something a little… homoerotic? Or maybe there are feelings somewhere between them, but they’re unrequited?

We’re holding out hope, especially since Sweeney’s last feature was such a fascinating exploration of the complexities of queerness and attraction—maybe Twinless will pull at some of the same threads!

And, consider this: There have been all sorts of scientific studies around twins trying to prove the “gay gene” and settle the long-standing nature vs. nurture argument. There’s basically data to prove or disprove any theory out there, which means there’s plenty of territory to explore sexuality and identity in a movie about twins.

Speaking with Deadline, Twinless producer David Permut uses a few choice words that onyl further pique our interest: “I immediately responded to the originality and provocative concept of Twinless. The dark comedy depicts complex characters in such an irreverent, emotional and hysterical way,” he shares. “The chemistry between Dylan, who portrays the role of identical twin brothers, opposite James’ character is absolutely combustible.”

“Provocative,” you say? “Combustible” chemistry? Oh, we will be tuning in!

Related:

These twins realized they were both gay after accidentally hooking up with the same guy

“I’m glad it happened,” Mike says. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Currently filming in Portland, Twinless is set to be Sweeney’s second feature film, both as a director and star. He previously wrote for the second season of Amazon Prime Video’s excellent rom-com series With Love.

As for O’Brien, he’s got a number of projects lined up, including a horror movie called Caddo Lake, as well as Jason Reitman’s SNL 1975—a look back at the early days of Saturday Night Live—where he’ll play a young Dan Aykroyd.

He’s also received raves for his unexpected villainous turn in Ponyboi, River Gallo’s queer crime thriller which premiered at Sundance last month. We haven’t stopped thinking about it since the festival, so we’ll be excited to let you know when Ponyboi will head to a theater (or streaming platform) near you!

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Sundance standout ‘Ponyboi’ has cowboy Murray Bartlett, sleazy Dylan O’Brien & a star-making River Gallo

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