From book to film! Turtles All the Way Down, a New York Times No. 1 Bestseller by John Green, will finally make it to the movie screen.

The HBO Max film will premiere with Isabela Merced and Felix Mallard as the main leads of Aza Holmes and Davis Pickett Jr. Isabella is known for her role as Dora in Dora and the Lost City of Gold and Felix played Marcus in Netflix’s Ginny and Georgia. Cree Cicchino, Nickelodeon star from the series Game Shakers, is set to play Daisy.

Actress-turned-director Hannah Marks will be directing from a script by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, best known for co-showrunning This Is Us and writing the screenplay for Love, Simon.

Turtles All the Way Down tells the story of Aza Holmes, an Indianapolis high school student with obsessive-compulsive disorder, as she looks to find a missing person. She struggles to find the balance between being a good daughter, student and friend as she battles with intrusive thoughts and tendencies. The film is set to start filming in April.

Turtles, which was Green’s first book since his massive success that is book-turned-movie The Fault in Our Stars, debuted as an instant best-seller shortly after its release. Along with The Fault in Our Stars that starred Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort in 2014, Green has written Paper Towns, which also had a big screen adaptation in 2015.

 

Green spoke with Time Magazine after releasing Turtles back in 2017 and opened up about his own mental health struggles that Aza also faces in the book.

“We really like stories that involve conquering obstacles and involve victory over adversity. And I love those stories too. It’s just that hasn’t been my story with mental illness, and I didn’t really want it to be Aza’s,” explained Green. “For me, it’s not something I expect to defeat in my life. It’s not like a battle I expect to win. It’s something I expect to live with and still have a fulfilling life.”

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