EXCLUSIVE: J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot has optioned an untitled feature pitch from The Crown writer Ed Hemming following a competitive auction.

Plot details are being kept under wraps on the in-demand pitch, which is understood to be a high school-set thriller in the present day with a socially relevant twist. The project was pitched as a TV or film project but Bad Robot is positioning it as a movie.

Hemming was story editor across 20 episodes of hit Netflix show The Crown. He was previously an assistant producer on BAFTA-winning ITV mini-series The Lost Honour Of Christopher Jefferies.

Bad Robot’s horror-action pic Overlord rolls out globally this fall. The Cloverfield Paradox debuted on Netflix earlier this year. Movies in the works include Allison Janney starrer Lou and Lena Dunham’s adaptation of Syrian refugee story A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea, a co-pro with Amblin.

Hemming is repped by CAA, Grandview, and ITG in London.