Elijah Wood Signs on to Star in ‘Bookworm’

Elijah Wood

Elijah Wood is set to star in the upcoming film Bookworm. The family-adventure comedy will film in New Zealand and will be directed by Ant Timpson.

Bookworm follows the story of 12-year-old Mildred, whose life is turned upside down when her mother ends up in hospital and her estranged father Strawn Wise, who will be played by Wood, comes to look after her.

In attempts to entertain the bookish child, Strawn takes Mildred camping in the notoriously rugged New Zealand wilderness. The pair embark on the ultimate test of family bonding in a quest to find the mythological beast known as the Canterbury Panther.The potential for mishap is significant as Mildred has never been into the wilds and Strawn is more at home on the Las Vegas strip.

Bookworm marks the second time that Elijah Wood and Ant Timpson have worked together. The first was the 2019 film, Come to Daddy, which only grossed $177,000 worldwide.

“Toby and I are always obsessed by fathers and their foibles, especially the traits that we’re afraid of having or displaying,” Timpson says. “‘Bookworm’ will be a love letter to the escapist 70s cinema we grew up with, non-pandering cinema where adults and kids enjoyed all the onscreen shenanigans equally.”

Currently in pre-production, Bookworm will film on location in New Zealand next March and April. And Toby Harvard has penned the screenplay for the flick. The movie  is being launched at the American Film Market by sales agent Mister Smith Entertainment.

“We just love the script, which is so reminiscent of the best of New Zealand cinema – with its smart, dry wit and heartfelt raw emotional energy – all set against a backdrop of the most beautiful landscapes imaginable,” Mister Smith Entertainment’s CEO David Garrett says of the project. “And the father-daughter relationship is so funny and engaging, it is impossible not to love them both, for all their faults.”

We’ll keep you posted as more details on the project surface.

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