Oscar-nominated Gone Girl actress Rosamund Pike is set to star in and produce Feed, a body horror project from director Leslye Headland (The Acolyte, Russian Doll), which The Veterans is pitching to buyers at the American Film Market next week.
Pike plays Erin, a desperate mother determined to make her tween gymnast daughter a star influencer. She finds an obscure collagen supplement that appears to help, but as fame and success arrive, her daughter begins a monstrous transformation.
Daniella Isaacs (People Who Knew Me) penned the script to Feed, inspired by Hanna Bergholm’s 2022 Finnish horror Hatching.
Pike will produce through her Primitive Streak banner, alongside Shelley Browning for Magnolia Entertainment, Steven Schneider for Spooky Pictures, Ara Keshishian and Petr Jakl for ZQ Entertainment, and Sam Ritzenberg for Agile Films. ZQ Entertainment financed the development of the script.
“Long have I wanted to make a film that plays anarchically with our obsession with social media and self-improvement, our desire for fame without notable admirable skill and, let’s put it out there, the monstrosity of modern motherhood,” said Pike in a statement. “Feed is film that plays in the genre space, and plays into our current fears, as parents, as citizens, of the digital world . It is contemporary and confronting, and I have found my perfect collaborators in Daniella Isaacs and Leslye Headland, both women who know that to be a girl, in a body, is dangerous, febrile, intoxicating and dare we say it monstrous.”
With its high-concept themes and body horror core, the project is clearly looking to play in the same space as Coralie Fargeat’s cross-over hit The Substance (2024), which grossed more than $77 million worldwide.
The Veterans is handling international sales on Feed and will be pitching it to buyers at AFM next week. CAA Media Finance is handling U.S. rights.