Courteney Cox has found a clever way to revisit two important chapters of her career with Evil Genius. The actress and filmmaker’s latest project features surprise appearances from Christine Taylor and David Arquette, bringing together performers connected to her history on both Friends and Scream.
The comedy-drama-thriller premiered at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival, where Cox is promoting the movie as director and co-producer. Inspired by the infamous 2003 pizza bomber case, Evil Genius tells a fictionalized story surrounding the people involved in the bizarre bank robbery that shocked Erie, Pennsylvania.
A New Movie Gives Cox Two Unexpected Reunions
Cox’s connections to Taylor and Arquette make their appearances particularly notable.
Taylor previously appeared on Friends as Bonnie, Ross Geller’s girlfriend during the show’s fourth season. Arquette, meanwhile, is best known for playing Dewey Riley opposite Cox’s Gale Weathers throughout the Scream franchise. He also had a guest role on Friends, appearing as Malcolm, a man who mistakenly stalks Phoebe because of his connection to Ursula.
In Evil Genius, both actors appear in a comedic bank scene. Their involvement gives Cox’s latest movie an unexpected connection to two of the most recognizable projects from her career.
What Evil Genius Is About
Evil Genius takes inspiration from the notorious 2003 case in which pizza delivery driver Brian Wells was forced to participate in a bank robbery while wearing a collar bomb.
David Harbour plays Wells, while Patricia Arquette portrays Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Tom McCarthy appears as Wells. The film draws from the same real-world case previously examined in the 2018 Netflix documentary Evil Genius: The True Story of America’s Most Diabolical Bank Heist.
Cox’s film is not simply a recreation of the original crime. Instead, it uses the bizarre case as the foundation for a narrative that explores the people and circumstances surrounding the incident.
