Chad Michael Murray Lands Peter Ruck Role in Disconnecting Peter

chad michael murray is set to star as Peter Ruck in Disconnecting Peter, a drama feature about a family strained by unresolved trauma. The casting move gives Christopher Beatty’s film a recognizable lead while production is slated to start in January 2027 in New Jersey.

Beatty’s Personal Script

Christopher Beatty wrote and directed the film, and he said, "The script is very personal to me, and I wanted to share my vision with a mass audience." He also said, "I'm thrilled to be working with an actor as talented as Chad to help bring this complex character to life."

That framing puts the project in a familiar indie-drama lane: a writer-director-driven feature anchored by a central performance, with Chad Michael Murray cast to carry the family breakdown at the center of the story. Beatty previously wrote and directed Bibi and produced Chlorine, so this is not his first pass at material built around psychological strain.

Peter Ruck, Elizabeth, Jenna

Murray will play Peter Ruck, a troubled husband and father trapped by destructive habits that threaten to unravel the family unit. Elizabeth fights to hold things together at all costs, while their daughter Jenna confronts the collapse of her aspirations to attend Juilliard.

Those specifics give the film a clear pressure point: the damage is not abstract, and the family’s choices are tied to concrete losses inside the home. That is the part distributors and casting teams tend to track closely, because the story depends on whether the characters’ conflict feels immediate enough to hold a feature audience.

January 2027 in New Jersey

Production is slated to begin in January 2027 in New Jersey, and casting is currently underway with Stephanie Holbrook serving as casting director. Eddie Micallef and Benjamin J. Murray are producing the project, which leaves the film in the pre-production phase for now.

Murray arrives with a recent run that includes Sullivan's Crossing, Freakier Friday, and the Netflix romantic comedy The Merry Gentlemen, plus earlier credits including Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill, The first Freaky Friday, Fruitvale Station, and A Cinderella Story. For Disconnecting Peter, the practical takeaway is simple: the lead is set, the casting process is still open, and the production clock is already pointed at New Jersey next January.