Shailene Woodley

Source: Thomas Whiteside

Shailene Woodley

The UK’s Mister Smith Entertainment is launching international sales at the upcoming American Film Market (AFM) on Victoria Negri’s upcoming ultramarathon-set psychological thriller Ultra, starring Shailene Woodley.

WME Independent is handling US sales on the project.

The film is being produced by Allison Rose Carter and Jon Read for US outfit Savage Rose Films, which co-produced Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Iris Torres. The executive producers are Andrew Kortschak and Lisa Ciuffetti for End and Toby Halbrooks for Sailor Bear.

Woodley will play Eve, a woman who enters the most intense athletic endeavour on the planet: the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon, a 135-mile race through Death Valley, where temperatures reach 54°C, following the tragic death of her twin sister. As she takes on the unforgiving elements and intense physical and psychological strain of the race, Eve finds herself pursued by an unknown runner in white, unable to outrun the ominous presence.

Ultra will see US filmmaker Negri draw from her personal experience as a long-distance runner and as the director of ultramarathon documentary short Personal Best.

“My father was a distance runner, left paralysed by a stroke,” said Negri. “Running, the thing that gave him life, was taken from him. He suffered, and finally succumbed. While finding my emotional footing, I grew to become an ultrarunner, since completing two 100-mile races, numerous 50 milers and many marathons… I wrote Ultra from this intense personal journey.”

Negri made her feature debut with 2017’s Gold Star, Robert Vaughn’s final on-screen performance. 

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