While Nikki Reed gets a breather from shooting "Breaking Dawn" — the production has shifted to Brazil with Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson — the 22-year-old actress is making plans for another big-screen project.Reed and former "Heroes" star Hayden Panettiere have signed on to star in a thriller called "Downers Grove," according to Variety. Based on the novel by Michael Hornberg and adapted for the screen by Bret Easton Ellis, the story follows a cursed Chicago high school that suffers the peculiar death of a senior each year before graduation. There's no word about which roles Reed and Panettiere will play, but the novel focuses on two main characters: Chrissie, a senior from a troubled home, and her sexually adventurous best friend, Tracy.
"Downers Grove" is set to begin production in the spring of 2011 in Louisiana — the same tax-friendly state where "Breaking Dawn" has set up shop. Nelson McCormick ("Prom Night") will direct, and Rebecca De Mornay also has taken on a role.
"The combination of the thriller genre, a very popular and well-known cast, Bret Easton Ellis' dynamic screenplay and Nelson McCormick's incredible skill with young actors and ability to create tension and terror on-screen is just unbeatable," said Kirk D'Amico, chief of Myriad Pictures, which acquired the rights to the property.
Panettiere has had mixed success on the big screen since her breakout turn on "Heroes": both "I Love You, Beth Cooper" and the animated children's tale "Alpha and Omega" tanked at the box office. Following the cancelation of "Heroes" earlier this year, she'll next be seen in "Scream 4." Reed, meanwhile, recently wrapped work on "Catch .44" opposite Bruce Willis and Malin Akerman, and will be busy with "Breaking Dawn" well into next year.
