Mister Smith Entertainment to launch international sales at the 2023 AFM
Alex Wolff (Oppenheimer, Hereditary, Pig), Victoria Pedretti (“You,” Origin, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood), Asa Butterfield (Ender’s Game, Hugo, “Sex Education”) and Justice Smith (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Sharper) will star in the dark and sexy psychological thriller IF SHE BURNS directed by multi-hyphenate Wolff from his own screenplay. IF SHE BURNS is produced by Jay Van Hoy (The Witch), Andra Gordon (Castle in the Ground), and Alex Wolff. A professional musician and composer, Wolff will also write and produce music for the film with Karl McComas-Reichl. Currently in pre-production and scheduled to start shooting on location in Italy in 2024, Mister Smith Entertainment will launch international sales on the film at the upcoming 2023 American Film Market (AFM), with WME handling North American sales. The actors were attached to the film prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike.
IF SHE BURNS is Alex Wolff’s second feature following his critically acclaimed debut The Cat And The Moon (2019) which quickly became a festival darling and fan favorite. Wolff is an award-winning actor, writer/director, musician, and composer. He is known for acting roles in critically acclaimed, groundbreaking independent cinema such as Hereditary (2018) and Pig (2021), as well as hit global franchises such as Jumanji (2017) and the upcoming A Quiet Place: Day One.
IF SHE BURNS follows a fiery young woman (Victoria Pedretti) who travels to Europe with her dysfunctional family after a traumatic incident. She finds refuge and danger in a turbulent affair with her enigmatic neighbor (Wolff), which along with increasing family tensions and mysterious wildfires, threaten to push her to breaking point.
Alex Wolff stated, “I’m exhilarated to embark on a journey with such remarkable, brave actors like Victoria, Asa and Justice. What we put on screen will be daring, ferocious, tender, and honest. I’m honored to be able to share it.”
Producers Andra Gordon and Jay Van Hoy said: “We’re excited to partner with Mister Smith and help bring Alex’s powerful vision to life with this wonderful cast. His evocative portrayal of a young woman contending with mounting internal and external pressure ramps up to a thrilling, poignant climax in a seamlessly heightened world where reality and perception are blurred.”
Mister Smith Entertainment’s founder and CEO David Garrett said: “Alex’s distinctive taste and vision as director is reflected in the projects he has been involved in to date. For IF SHE BURNS, he assembled a fascinating and talented young cast who are all currently making their mark across trailblazing film and television. Alex’s script sizzles with erotic tension and promises to deliver an unsettling and mesmerizing experience for the audience.”
Multi-hyphenate actor/writer/director and musician Alex Wolff is one of the most sought-after actors and filmmakers in Hollywood with a unique singular vision. Most recently, Wolff appeared in Christopher Nolan’s OPPENHEIMER and in Sophie Kargman’s thriller Susie Searches. Wolff is known for his critically acclaimed performances in A24’s Hereditary, Pig; opposite Nicolas Cage; and M. Shyamalan’s Old. In 2019, FilmRise distributed Wolff’s feature directorial debut, The Cat And The Moon, which Wolff wrote, directed and starred in. Up next, Wolff will appear in A Quiet Place: Day One alongside Lupita Nyong’o releasing March 2024.
Victoria Pedretti will next be seen in Ava DuVernay’s Origin (which just premiered at Venice) and Ponyboi, directed Esteban Arango. Recent credits include the smash Netflix series “You” (where she played “Love Quinn” opposite Penn Badgley), Josephine Decker’s feature Shirley opposite Elisabeth Moss, and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. Pedretti’s breakout was in the first season of Mike Flanagan’s critically acclaimed anthology series for Netflix “The Haunting of Hill House,” which she followed up with a lead role in his next installment “The Haunting of Bly Manor.” Victoria is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon, where she studied musical theatre and dance. She’s also performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
British Actor, Asa Butterfield, has had an expansive career to date, across both television and film. After making his on-screen debut at the age of eight, Asa has starred in a number of projects spanning multiple genres. He has received nominations for three British Independent Film Awards, two Critics’ Choice Awards, two Saturn Awards, and three Young Artist Awards.
Justice Smith has become one of Hollywood’s most promising and in demand young actors after breaking out in the critically acclaimed Netflix series “The Get Down,” created by Baz Luhrmann which was released in 2016. Smith had two exciting projects released in 2023. He was most recently seen in the A24/ Apple thriller Sharper which released in theaters on February 10, 2023, and globally on Apple TV+ on February 17, 2023. Then, Paramount blockbuster film Dungeons & Dragons; Honor Among Thieves released worldwide on March 31, 2023. His first blockbuster lead role was opposite Ryan Reynolds in Warner Bros. summer 2019 box-office hit Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, which grossed over 430 million dollars worldwide, Smith continues to charm audiences across TV, Film and Stage. Outside of his acting career, Smith is making waves in the fashion industry, having been announced as the face of the Men’s Saint Laurent Spring/Summer 2021 campaign; along with a stylized vignette, he was featured in a large print and billboard campaign that debuted March 2021. Previously, he headlined as Theodore Finch in Netflix’s “All the Bright Places” alongside Elle Fanning, based on the best-selling book of same namesake written by Jennifer Niven.
He can also be seen in HBO Max series “Genera+ion” from producer Lena Dunham and creator Zelda Barnz, which premiered in March 2021, and in the Amazon film Voyeurs, opposite Sydney Sweeney, which premiered September 2021. He reprised his role as Franklin Webb, who was first introduced in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, for the most recent installment of the global blockbuster franchise, which premiered June 2022, reuniting him with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. Alongside Cara Delevingne and Nat Wolff, Smith was first seen in the Fox 2000 film Paper Towns. In 2017 Smith made his stage debut in the off-Broadway play Yen, in which he starred opposite Oscar® nominee Lucas Hedges. He then continued his love for theater the following year and starred in the Off-Broadway play The Mother, opposite another Oscar nominee, Isabelle Huppert. Smith graduated from the Orange County School of the Arts in 2013 with a major in Acting. In his senior year, he was ranked in the top 1.3% of young artists across the nation by the National Young Arts Foundation.
Jay Van Hoy has produced over thirty feature films that establish an impressive legacy of trendsetting work, renowned for creative ambition and innovation. Recent productions include Hell of a Summer, directed by Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk, Alan Ball’s Uncle Frank, Robert Eggers’ genre-defining films The Lighthouse and The Witch, and Andrea Arnold’s American Honey. Across the filmography, the films have won awards at Sundance, Cannes, Berlin, Rotterdam, The Independent Spirit Awards, BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and the Oscars. Jay is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and the Producers Guild of America.
Andra Gordon is a producer/writer and co-founder of Athena Pictures, a production company dedicated to telling bold stories primarily told through the gaze of female protagonists and diverse perspectives. Recent features include George Baron’s The Blue Rose starring Olivia Scott Welch and Joey Klein’s Castle in the Ground starring Alex Wolff and Imogen Poots. She previously headed development and production at American Entertainment Investors, financier and advisor involved in such award-winning films as 12 Years a Slave, Sicario, The Man Who Knew Infinity and Hotel Mumbai.
