{blackbabes} Keke Palmer & Zack Gottsagen Lead Thor Freudenthal’s ‘Lottery’ For Searchlight

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Searchlight has greenlit Lottery, a Permut Presentations drama about a young man with Down syndrome, who after winning the lottery, flees his estranged mother and hits the road with a charming new friend who has ulterior motives of her own.

Two-time Primetime Emmy winner Keke Palmer stars with The Peanut Butter Falcon‘s Zack Gottsagen. Diary of a Wimpy Kid filmmaker Thor Freudenthal directs off a screenplay by Alexis C. Jolly (Baby Monster, Belly of the Beast).

Producers are Hacksaw Ridge Best Picture Oscar nominated David Permut for Permut Presentations, Jen Dana for 3311, and Dan Crown for Red Crown. Permut’s recent film out of Sundance, Olivia Wilde’s The Invite, starring Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton, sold to A24 in a fierce bidding war for $10M+ as Deadline first reported.

Co-producers are Alex Astrachan for Permut Presentations and Yoni Liebling for Red Crown. EPs are Keke Palmer and Sharon Palmer.

Overseeing the project at Searchlight is production executive Apolline Berty who reports into Co-Heads of Film Production & Development DanTram Nguyen and Katie Goodson-Thomas.

Palmer won Emmys for Outstanding Host of a Game Show for Password in 2023 as well as Outstanding Actress in a short-form comedy or drama series for Turnt Up With the Taylors. She’s also a New York Times best-selling author and was honored with the 2025 NAACP Image Award for Entertainer of the Year. Feature headlining roles include One of Them Days, Jordan Peele’s blockbuster Nope, Hustlers, Good Fortune, The Pickup and the upcoming NEON summer comedy I Love Boosters from Boots Riley. Palmer hosts the podcast Baby, This is Keke Palmer. She can now be seen on Peacock’s The Burbs. Palmer is repped by 3 Arts Entertainment, and Hertz Lichtenstein Young & Polk.

Gottsagen broke out in the critically acclaimed and award winning feature The Peanut Butter Falcon opposite Dakota Johnson and Shia LaBeouf. The actor was honored with the Palm Springs International Film Festival Rising Star Award for his turn in that pic. Other feature film roles include God Save the Queens, At Last and Night Always Comes. Gottsagen is repped by Worldwide Artists Group and Advanced Management.

German-born Freudenthal’s directing film credits also include Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, and Words on Bathroom Walls. In television, he has directed pilots for series including Carnival Row, La Brea, Quantum Leap, and The Hunting Party — which he went on to direct four episodes of, also executive producing on 14. He has also directed episodes of The Expanse, Arrow and The Bondsman. He is represented by Gersh, Gotham Group, and Eclipse Law.

Jolly currently has projects in development with Amazon Studios, FX, and more. His script A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood appeared on the 2013 Black List. The scribe is repped by CAA, Writ Large and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Feldman, Rogal, Shikora & Clark.