Hayden Panettiere (“Heroes”) and Nikki Reed (“The Twilight Saga”) will star in Downers Grove, based on the novel by Michael Hornburg. Prom Night helmer Nelson McCormick will direct from a script by Bret Easton Ellis.
The book is described as follows:
Downers Grove is the haunting and tender story of Chrissie Swanson (Panettiere), a paranoid high school senior for whom graduating has become a matter of life or death. She’s an unusual girl in an ordinary town. Her mother’s sex life is overshadowing her own; her brother is aboard his own private Enterprise, slipping into one black hole after another; her best friend is hornier than a Prince song; leaving her eccentric grandmother as the only source of wisdom in a rapid downward spiral. As Chrissie tries to take control of the events that shape her life, she finds the events beginning to take control of her, until she is finally cornered by choices with everlasting consequences. Full of humor, wit, and the sacrilegious worldview of a savvy teenager, Downers Grove paints a searing portrait of the American dream in all its broken glory.
Filming is expected to take place in Louisiana in the spring. Rebecca De Mornay is also starring.
Oren Segal of Media Talent Group, Chiara Trento of Bystander Films and Jason Dubin of Mangrove Media will produce.
