Demon Rises ActressNell Fisher and Bad Sisters actor Michael Smiley will join Elijah Wood at Bookworm, the new family adventure comedy from New Zealand director Ant Timpson (Come to Daddy).
Fisher will play Mildred, a 12 year-old girl whose life is turned upside down when she becomes estranged However, Strawn Wise (Wood), an outdated American magician father, came to take care of her. Seeking to bond with the tween, Straun takes Mildred on an ill-advised camping trip into the rugged New Zealand wilderness in search of the mythical Canterbury panther, named after the region of New Zealand’s South Island. beast.
This project will regroup Wood with Come to Daddy director Timpson and will see The cast of Lord of the Rings returned to New Zealand for filming.
“In Bookworm , we’re going to make him suffer again, except this time he’s at the mercy of a precocious 12 years old and the rugged landscape of the Canterbury region,” Timpson said.
Fisher stars for Warner Bros. The upcoming Evil Dead Rise , the fifth installment in the cult horror series, is directed by Lee Cronin. Smiley starred alongside Sharon Horgan and Anne-Marie Duff in Apple TV+’s critically acclaimed Bad Sisters and Ben Wheatley’s Kill List
in a supporting role and Yorgos Lanthimos’s lobster . His recent films include Gunpowder Milkshake and The Silent Twins.
Mister Smith Entertainment is working on International on Bookworm sale and will sell it to buyers at the Cannes Film Market next month. CAA Media Finance, which is arranging financing for the film, is handling US rights. Rialto Distribution will distribute the film in Australia and New Zealand.
Bookworm Produced by Emma Slade, Roxi Bull, Victoria Dabbs of Firefly Films and Mette-Marie Kongsved of Nowhere, And Laura Tunstall. It is executive produced by Talon Entertainment Finance’s Steven Demmler, Orogen Entertainment’s Blair Ward and Anders Erdén, and Rialto Distribution’s Kelly Rogers and Kevin Gordon.
Smiley is represented by B-Side Management in the UK Fisher is represented by Gail Cowan Management (New Zealand), Untitled Entertainment (USA) and United Agents (UK). Wood is represented by CAA, Brillstein Entertainment Partners, Meyer & Downs and Narrative. 12
