Wolfe Releasing Buys Into Dysfunctional, Cheating New Yorkers of ‘Petunia’

Ash Christian's "Petunia" stars Thora Birch, Brittany Snow and Eddie Kaye Thomas 

Wolfe Releasing has acquired domestic and Canadian rights to Ash Christian’s “Petunia,” a dark comedy starring Thora Birch, Brittany Snow, Tobias Segal, Eddie Kaye Thomas and Christine Lahti.

The film depicts a dysfunctional family of New Yorkers including their interpersonal squabbles and sexual escapades. Charlie (Segal), the gay, jittery son of two therapists (Lahti, David Rasche) falls for George (Michael Urie), the cute cousin of his sister-in-law Vivian (Snow). Vivian has just married Charlie’s brother Michael (Kaye Thomas), but she has no interest in settling down just yet. An unfaithful wife, she gets pregnant but doesn’t know whose kid it is. And the entanglements continue.

“This is our second release with the incredibly talented writer-director Ash Christian," Maria Lynn, president of Wolfe, said in a statement. “We loved working on his previous film Mangus! and our audience really responds to the unique cinematic universe he creates.  With the added bonus of its stellar cast, we’re really looking forward to the reception Petunia receives."

Christian, who co-wrote the film with Theresa Bennett, also produced the film with Jordan Yale Levine and Birch. It’s the first producer credit for Birch, whose last feature film was 2010’s “Winter of Frozen Dreams.”

“We're thrilled to be working with Wolfe,” Christian said in a statement. “Their passion for telling our stories on film, combined with their ability to reach our audience, makes it a wonderful collaboration.” 

For the Record: An earlier version of this piece incorrectly identified one of the producers. It cited him as "Yale Levine" when his name is in fact "Jordan Yale Levine."

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