Shailene Woodley is set to star in the upcoming psychological thriller Ultra from writer/director Victoria Negri (Gold Star, Personal Best).
The Divergent and Big Little Lies actress will play Eve, an ultramarathon runner who, following the tragic death of her twin sister, enters the most intense competition on the planet: The Badwater 135 Ultramarathon, a 135-mile race through Death Valley. In the midst of the run, fighting physical exhaustion and psychological trauma, Eve notices she is being pursued by an unknown runner in white who is closing in on her.
Negri draws from her personal experience as a long-distance runner and as the director of ultramarathon documentary short Personal Best for the feature.
“My father was a distance runner, left paralyzed by a stroke. Running, the thing that gave him life, was taken from him. He suffered, and finally succumbed,” Negri said in a statement. “While finding my emotional footing, I grew to become an ultrarunner, since completing two 100-mile races, numerous 50 milers and many marathons. It’s through testing my limits in each of these epic races that I process loss — physical pain being the greatest metaphor for the emotional. Although my grief is always with me, I’ve learned I’m strong enough to handle it, to handle anything. I wrote Ultra from this intense personal journey, using running as the cinematic vehicle to depict the ways in which we process grief — whether we carry it with us by our side, or see it in the rearview mirror, we’re never able to outrun its lingering presence.”
Mister Smith Entertainment is handling international sales for the project and will be pitching Ultra to buyers at the American Film Market in Los Angeles next week. WME Independent will handle US sales.
Ultra is being produced by Allison Rose Carter and Jon Read for Savage Rose Films (Everything Everywhere All at Once, American Honey) and Iris Torres (In Dubious Battle). Executive producers are Andrew Kortschak and Lisa Ciuffetti for End Cue (The History Of Sound), and Toby Halbrooks for Sailor Bear (The Green Knight, A Ghost Story).
Woodley, known for her roles in the Divergent franchise, the John Green adaptation The Fault in Our Stars and the Emmy-nominated series Big Little Lies, most recently appeared in Potsy Poncirol’s wordless action-thriller Motor City alongside Alan Ritchson, Ben Foster and Pablo Schreiber.
Shailene Woodley is represented by CAA, Range Media Partners and Shelter PR. Victoria Negri is represented by Entertainment 360.
