The cast is led by Abigail Cowen (Fate: The Winx Saga, The Ritual, Redeeming Love), who plays a mother on the run with her infant.

It also stars Jackie Earle Haley, who landed an Oscar nom for Little Children and starred in Zack Snyder’s Watchmen, and Lou Diamond Phillips, whose long and varied career has included starring as Ritchie Valens in La Bamba all the way up to working in this season’s cult comedy HBO series, The Chair Company.

They are joined by Jason Schmidt (The Outsiders on Broadway), Nadine Velazquez (Flight, My Name Is Earl), Jose Pablo Cantillo (Elysium, Mayor of Kingstown), Rob Morgan (Stranger Things, Mudbound), Joseph Raymond Lucero (Mayans MC) and PJ Sosko (The Blacklist).

“Desperate and on the run with her infant son, a young mother races across empty highways and forgotten truck stops, hunted by ruthless cartel enforcers and relentless federal agents,” reads the logline. “But in the shadows between predator and prey, something far more terrifying is stirring—and nothing in this story is what it seems.”

The film hails from director Don Handfield, who adapted the forthcoming AMP Comics graphic novel of the same name with writer Joshua Malkin.

Handfield, known for producing McDonald’s feature The Founder starring Michael Keaton and co-creating History’s Knightfall, said in a statement, “This is a film that weaponizes your assumptions. The less you know going in, the more devastating the experience.”

The film is produced by Lauren Vilchik through Walker Street Entertainment, Eshan Kamarsu through Tambura Pictures, Handfield through AMP Comics, and Chase McNaughton through Frigate Filmworks.

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EXCLUSIVE: Director Nikhil Melnechuk has wrapped production in Texas on his debut feature, the bull riding drama Daisy. Cast set in the pic, described as an underdog sports story, includes Melissa Jackson (The Easy Kind), Abigail Cowen (Fate: The Winx Saga), Dana Wheeler-Nicholson (Nashville) and Adam Huber (Dynasty).

Written by Melnechuk and Jackson, the film tells the story of Daisy (Jackson), a Latina orphan living and working as a cowgirl on a bucking bull ranch in Texas. Daisy’s always been treated as less-than by her domineering boss Mrs. Koehl (Wheeler-Nicholson). When her rodeo star twin brother gets paralyzed, his spitfire bull rider girlfriend Tam (Cowen) convinces Daisy to train and take her brother’s place in a high-stakes championship. Determined to get her shot, Daisy catches the attention of washed-up pro rider Guy (Huber), who becomes her coach. Sparks fly, but there are snakes everywhere. Betrayed by those closest to her and a newcomer to the sport, Daisy must find the strength to ride.
Developed with Duke Largo (Cowgirls), a pioneer in women’s bull and bronc riding, Daisy features appearances by bull riders Billi Halverson, Jordan Halvorsen, Adam Lucero, and Chase Outlaw. Others in the cast include Brad Leland (Deepwater Horizon), Tanner Beard (We Summon the Darkness), Barron Boedecker (Queen of the Ring), Bonner Bolton (The Longest Ride), Lisa Fairchild (W.), Harper Heath (Love & Death), Todd Jenkins (The Channel), Kamen Kasey (Black Adam), Billie D. Merritt (Tazmanian Devil), Crawford Wilson (Sugar Mountain), Danny Williams-Lopez (Breakwater), country artist Tyler Rich, and singer-songwriter Morgan Wade.

The production is led by Mystic Entertainment’s Melnechuk and Jackson, along with Tomik Mansoori and Lane Cheek of Silver Sail Entertainment. Exec producers include George B. Boedecker, Jr., Matt Cheney, Gerald & Theresa Thompson, Beard of Silver Sail Entertainment, Peter Gilbert, and Anita La Cava Swift — John Wayne’s granddaughter, who makes a rare cameo appearance. Matthew Glasner and Beth Sepko handled casting, with Movie Animals Protected overseeing animals.

Said Melnechuk in a statement to Deadline, “From the 1800s to today, women have been central to rodeo history. Films just haven’t told enough cowgirl stories. We’re honored to have the support of cowgirls and cowboys alike to make “Daisy” authentic to the rodeo world they know, and to have the chance to bring our out-of-towner perspective so that the film is for everyone who likes to root for the underdog.”

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