‘Turtles All The Way Down’: Cree Cicchino & Felix Mallard Join New Line HBO Max YA Movie

Anthony D'Alessandro
·3 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Cree Cicchino and Felix Mallard have landed supporting lead roles in New Line’s film adaptation of John Green’s No. 1 New York Times bestseller Turtles All the Way Down for HBO Max, Deadline has learned.

The duo joined already cast Isabela Merced in the Hannah Marks directed feature.

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Turtles All the Way Down tackles anxiety through its 17-year-old protagonist, Aza Holmes. It’s not easy being Aza, but she’s trying… trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, and a good student, all while navigating an endless barrage of invasive, obsessive thoughts that she cannot control. When she reconnects with Davis, her childhood crush, Aza is confronted with fundamental questions about her potential for love, happiness, friendship, and hope in the face of her mental illness.

Cicchino will play the role of Daisy, while Mallard will portray Davis.

The novel debuted as an instant No. 1 bestseller, seeing rights sold in over 30 countries, and more than 2 million copies in print. The book was featured on numerous ‘best of the year’ lists including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, TIME, NPR, Entertainment Weekly, BuzzFeed, Bustle, Vulture, Pop Sugar, the A.V. Club, BookPage, Booklist, School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly. Turtles All the Way Down is John Green’s follow-up novel to his worldwide sensation The Fault in Our Stars, which debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times best seller list and was chosen as TIME‘s No 1 Fiction Book of 2012 with a feature adaptation that grossed over $307M WW in 2014. Green’s books have sold over 20 million copies and have been translated in dozens of languages.

New Line/HBO Max picked up the project from Fox 2000 when the division shuttered. HBO Max has become a destination for YA content with the success of films like The Fallout and shows like the new Gossip Girl and The Sex Lives of College Girls, and the upcoming Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.

Scribes Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger are adapting Turtles All the Way Down. They will both executive produce with Green. Temple Hill’s Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey and Isaac Klausner will produce.

Cicchino is coming off the HBO Max hit series And Just Like That starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Cynthia Nixon. Prior to that, Cicchino spent three seasons on Mr. Iglesias with Gabriel ‘Fluffy’ Iglesias and co-starred in the feature The Sleepover alongside Malin Ackerman, Ken Marino and Joe Manganiello – both for Netflix. Cicchino will next be seen in the indie Stay Awake opposite Chrissy Metz, Wyatt Oleff and Finn Argus. The film just made its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. Cicchino is repped by Circle of Confusion, A3 Artists Agency and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher, LLP.

Mallard currently stars as Marcus on the Netflix series Ginny & Georgia. Recently renewed for a second season, the series was viewed by 52 million subscribers in its first 28 days after its February 2021 drop. On television, Mallard recently recurred on Netflix’s horror fantasy series Locke & Key. In 2021, Mallard recurred on NBC’s Emmy-winning series Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist alongside stars Jane Levy and Mary Steenburgen. Previously, Mallard starred opposite Damon Wayans Jr. and Amber Stevens West as music superstar Cooper James on the Harry Styles-produced CBS comedy Happy Together. In film, Mallard starred opposite Elle Fanning in the Netflix feature All the Bright Places based on the bestselling book. Mallard also starred as Ben Kirk on the Australian series Neighbours. He is repped by Echo Lake Entertainment and Linsten Management in Australia.

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