Cameron Monaghan (“Shameless”) and Maddie Hasson (ABC Family’s “Twisted”) are set to star in “Anna Dressed in Blood,” a supernatural romance movie that is being produced by “Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer, it was announced Tuesday.
Grammy Award winner Trish Sie (“Step Up: All In”) will direct from a script by Allison Wood. Sie is known for stylish visuals, which gained attention via viral music videos for the rock band OK Go.
Meyer is producing the YA movie under her Fickle Fish Films banner along with partner Meghan Hibbett and the Solution Entertainment Group’s Lisa Wilson and Myles Nestel.
The Solution is financing and handling international sales for the project, which it will begin introducing to buyers at the Cannes Film Market. UTA Independent Film Group represents U.S. rights and packaged the movie.
Meyer optioned Kendare Blake’s book “Anna Dressed in Blood” — the first in a successful two-book series — and developed the project through Fickle Fish. Production is slated to start in November.
Monaghan will play Cas Lowood, who has inherited an unusual vocation — he kills the dead. So did his father, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly dagger, Cas travels America with his mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. They follow legends and local lore, destroy the angry dead, and keep pesky things like plans for the future and friends at bay. Searching for a ghost the locals call “Anna Dressed in Blood,” Cas finds a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before.
Since her death, Anna (Hasson) has killed each and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian house she used to call home, but there is something about Cas that compels her to spare his life. For reasons neither can explain, the two begin to realize that they may have finally found the one person who can help them unravel their complicated pasts.
“Finding the right actors has been top priority,” said Sie. “It’s critical we achieve just the right tone and identify the magical combination of people that brings crackling electricity to these characters and their story.”
The book “Anna Dressed in Blood” was on a variety of best-of lists, including NPR’s Top 5 and the Kirkus Top Teen list. Blake has written several book series in the YA genre and her new novel, “Three Dark Crowns,” will be released this September.
Following the success of the “Twilight,” franchise, Meyer launched Fickle Fish Films with Hibbett, and the company produced Andrew Niccol‘s “The Host” starring Saoirse Ronan and the Sundance comedy “Austenland” starring Keri Russell.
Hasson recently starred in ABC Family’s hit thriller series “Twisted,” for which she received two Teen Choice Award nominations. The actress currently co-stars alongside Tom Hiddleston in the Hank Williams movie “I Saw the Light,” and she recently wrapped the indie film “Novitiate” with Oscar winner Melissa Leo.
Monaghan is a series regular on Showtime’s “Shameless” and plays a recurring role on Fox’s hit “Gotham.” He has appeared in Philip Noyce’s “The Giver” and will soon be seen alongside Bella Thorne and Jennifer Jason Leigh in “Amityville: The Awakening.”