《英雄》女星将出演校园惊悚片

    Hayden Panettiere, of TV’s “Heroes,” and Nikki Reed, from the “Twilight” franchise, are attached to star in a high school-set thriller written by “American Psycho” novelist Bret Easton Ellis.

    “Downers Grove,” based on a novel by Michael Hornberg, is set in a high school in Chicago suburb where every year, one senior dies a bizarre death before the end of the school year. Panettiere’s character fears that she’s the next victim. The cast will also include Rebecca De Mornay (“The Hand that Rocks the Cradle”).

    Nelson McCormick (“Prom Night”) is set to direct the feature, which will film in Louisiana in the spring.

    Known as the blonde cheerleader in fantasy series “Heroes,” Panettiere grew up outside of New York City and has been in the entertainment business since infancy. She has spent her childhood on the daytime dramas “One Life to Live” and “The Guiding Light.” Primetime TV viewers then got to know her for regular appearances on “Ally McBeal,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “Malcolm in the Middle.”

    Panettiere became hot property in 2006, thanks to her role as Claire Bennet, the indestructible teenager central to the plot of the hit series “Heroes.”

    (SD-Agencies)