Madelaine Petsch and Gavin Casalegno will star in the upcoming young adult romance Chasing Red, based on the Wattpad webnovel by Isabelle Ronin.
Mackenzie Munro will direct from a screenplay by Lauren Schacher, with Greg Silverman and Grant Torre of Stampede Ventures producing together with David Madden and Jason Goldberg of Webtoon Productions.
Petsch will play Veronica, a straight-A student determined not to fall for college heartthrob Caleb (Casalegno) and become his next conquest, even after a chance encounter sparks an undeniable attraction between the two of them. But on the run from a painful past and with nowhere to go, Veronica ends up moving into Caleb’s home. As the two grow closer, secrets begin to unravel, in the words of the promotional blurb, “love and betrayal collide in this addictive, slow-burn romance.”
Mister Smith Entertainment is handling international sales for the project and has closed deals for much of the world, with Amazon Prime Video taking the film for the U.K., Canada, Australia/New Zealand, France and Benelux; Capelight acquiring Germany; Leone Film Group taking Italian rights; Sun/Diamond handling Latin America, Spain, Portugal and South Africa; and Svensk taking the film for Scandinavia among other deals.
Wattpad is the online publisher of Anna Todd’s After series, which was turned into a five-film franchise that grossed $168 million globally. Chasing Red is the platform’s second most-read English-language title, with 261 million online reads. The story has been adapted into a Webtoon webcomic with 24 million views and published as both a print novel by Sourcebooks and a graphic novel by Webtoon Unscrolled.
Petsch, best-known for her breakout role as Cheryl Blossom on CW series Riverdale, produced and starred in the Amazon romantic comedy Maintenance Required, alongside Jacob Scipio. She appears in Lionsgate’s The Strangers, a three-film reboot of the psychological horror franchise, directed by Renny Harlin, with The Strangers: Chapter 3 set for release next year. She recently wrapped Killer Films’ Pretty Babies, from director Tyler-Marie Evans.
Casalegno stars as Jeremiah Fisher on Amazon Prime Video’s hit series The Summer I Turned Pretty, based on Jenny Han’s bestselling novels. He will next appear alongside Kathryn Newton and Lana Condor in the Jeff Wadlow-directed thriller The Devil’s Mouth for Amazon MGM.
Munro previously directed Wattpad’s independently financed romantic comedy Boot Camp (2024), and the 2021 feature Salvation.
Petsch is represented by CAA, Mosaic, The Lede Company and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher. Casalegno is represented by Bold Agency, UTA, Luber Roklin Entertainment, Vision PR and Skrzyniarz & Mallean. Munro is represented by Sugar23 and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson + Christopher LLP.
