CARPENTER'S NEXT NABS TWO LEADING LADIES...

Danielle Panabaker ("Mr. Brooks," "Friday the 13th") will star opposite Amber Heard ("The Stepfather," "The Informers") in John Carpenter's psychological horror thriller "The Ward" for Echo Lake Entertainment and A Bigger Boat, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The story follows a girl (Heard) who is admitted to a psychiatric ward, meets other girls there with distinct personalities and discovers a mysterious girl haunting the halls at night.

Panabaker plays a patient in the institution, a snobbish girl who flirts with orderlies and faces electroshock therapy. Mamie Gummer ("Taking Woodstock") also has been cast as a patient.

Michael and Shawn Rasmussen wrote the script, with revisions by Jim Agnew and Sean Keller. Shooting kicks off next month in Spokane, Washington.