EXCLUSIVE: Maddie Ziegler (Fitting In, My Old Ass) and Avantika (Mean Girls) have joined the cast of the indie action feature Ballerina Overdrive from 87North and Gulfstream Pictures.
From Vicky Jewson who is directing from a script by Kate Freund, Ballerina Overdrive follows a troupe of ballerinas who find themselves fighting for survival as they attempt to escape from a remote inn after their bus breaks down on the way to a dance competition.
As Deadline revealed exclusively last year, Lana Condor, Iris Apatow and Millicent Simmonds also star. Previously attached stars Lena Headey, Yara Shahidi and Isabela Merced have since departed the project. Jenny Jue cast the film which is currently in production in Budapest.
Kelly McCormick and David Leitch (The Fall Guy, Bullet Train) produce through their 87North banner with Bill Bindley and Mike Karz for Gulfstream Pictures alongside Piers Tempest. Gulfstream Pictures (Upgraded, One Fast Move) is fully financing Ballerina Overdrive. Max Jacoby is supervising for 87North.
CAA Media Finance is handling domestic sales, with Vincent Maraval and Kim Fox’s The Veterans are handling international sales for the independent film.
Ziegler most recently starred in the feature Fitting In. She will next be seen co-starring in the 2024 Sundance Film Festival breakout film My Old Ass, which will premiere on Amazon Prime this September. The film was directed by Megan Park, who also directed The Fallout which Ziegler appeared in alongside Jenna Ortega in 2022. Other credits include Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story and The Book of Henry. She is repped by WME, Rothman/Andres Entertainment and McKuin Frankel Whitehead.
Avantika made her U.S. debut in the Disney Channel Original movie Spin (2021) which she followed with the Rebel Wilson-led comedy film Senior Year (2022) for Netflix. Her breakout role was in the musical comedy feature Mean Girls (2024), based on the stage musical of the same name. She played Karen Shetty, a member of the Plastics. Most recently, she starred as Paige in the horror feature Tarot, written and directed by Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg. Avantika Is repped by UTA, ColorCreative and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
Ballerina Overdrive marks the fifth film Gulfstream Pictures has fully financed, following the recently wrapped Falling starring K.J. Apa, Isabel May, Archie Renaux and Emma Laird, and three titles picked up by Prime Video for distribution including One Fast Move starring KJ Apa, Maia Reficco, Eric Dane and Edward James Olmos, the recent comedy Upgraded starring Camila Mendes, Marisa Tomei, Archie Renaux, Andrew Schultz and Lena Olin and the romantic comedy The Other Zoey starring Josephine Langford, Drew Starkey, Archie Renaux, Andie Macdowell and Heather Graham.
