The thriller “Firestarter” and the action comedy “The Bad Guys” will be released in Philippine cinemas.

Awkwafina in “The Bad Guys”

Awkwafina lends her voice in the new action comedy “The Bad Guys” from DreamWorks Animation, based on The New York Times best-selling book series.

The movie tells the story of a crackerjack criminal crew of animal outlaws who are about to attempt their most challenging con yet—becoming model citizens.

Awkwafina voices the tech-savvy Ms. Tarantula along Sam Rockwell as the dashing pickpocket Mr. Wolf, Marc Maron as the adroit safecracker Mr. Snake, Craig Robinson as the master-of-disguise Mr. Shark and Anthony Ramos as the short-fused muscle Mr. Piranha.

Ms. Tarantula is always quick with the comebacks. As the gang’s only female member, she doesn’t cut the “Guys” any slack. She prides herself on perfection. When she encounters an un-hackable code, she goes into “beast mode”—employing her eight legs to achieve super-cyber decrypting speeds.

In Aaron Blabey’s book series, Tarantula is actually a “Mr.” But when adapting the story for the screen, Blabey was supportive of the filmmakers switching the character to be a female techie.

“One of the surprising things was how parents responded to the fact that Ms. Tarantula was representing women and girls in S.T.E.M. She’s a cool, confident hacker, and to have audiences see her as a role model in that regard was wonderful,” said producer Rebecca Huntley.

“This is a stacked cast of brilliant actors, and I’m a huge fan of all my fellow Bad Guys. When I heard who was going to be in it, I was mind-blown,” said Awkwafina.

A Universal Pictures International release, “The Bad Guys” will open in Philippine cinemas on April 27.

“Firestarter”

“Firestarter” is the latest adaptation of Stephen King’s classic thriller starring Zac Efron, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Sydney Lemmon, Kurtwood Smith, John Beasley, Michael Greyeyes and Gloria Reuben.

In “Firestarter,” a girl with extraordinary pyrokinetic powers fights to protect her family and herself from sinister forces that seek to capture and control her.

For more than a decade, parents Andy (Efron) and Vicky (Lemmon) have been on the run, desperate to hide their daughter Charlie (Armstrong, previously played by Drew Barrymore) from a shadowy federal agency that wants to harness her unprecedented gift for creating fire into a weapon of mass destruction.

Andy has taught Charlie how to defuse her power, which is triggered by anger or pain. But as Charlie turns 11, the fire becomes harder and harder to control.

After an incident reveals the family’s location, a mysterious operative is deployed to hunt down the family and seize Charlie once and for all. Charlie has other plans.

“Firestarter” will open in local cinemas on May 11.