Victoria Justice to Star in MTV Pilot From Jason Blum, Catherine Hardwicke

Victoria Justice is heading to MTV.

The Victorious alum will star in Eye Candy, the drama based on RL Stine's best-seller of the same name, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Eye Candy is described as a cyber-thriller based on the book from the Goosebumps' creator. Justice will play Lindy, a tech genius who, convinced by her roommate to begin online dating, begins to suspect that one of her mysterious suitors may be a deadly cyber stalker.  When her friends at the elusive cyber-police uncover a potential serial killer in Manhattan, all signs point to one of Lindy's dates. Teaming with a band of hackers, Lindy works to solve the murders while unleashing her own style of justice on the streets of New York City.

Emmy Grinwis will pen the script and co-executive produce the drama. Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity) will executive produce the drama via his Blumhouse Productions banner alongside Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen), who will direct. Yvonne Bernard and Beth Elise Hawk are also on board as EPs.

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For Justice, the role keeps her in the Viacom family after her starring turn in Nick's Victorious, which wrapped in 2012.

"Victoria Justice is exactly someone we want to be in business with.  Not only does she resonate with our audience, she has a huge fan base and is extremely talented. We are very lucky to have her," MTV programming president Susanne Daniels said.  

Justice, repped by UTA and Jackoway Tyerman, recently returned from the Summer Break Tour, which reached more than 38 cities across the U.S. Prior to her two-time Kids Choice Award-winning series Victorious, Justice starred in Zoey 101. She's a Teen Choice, Kids' Choice, NAACP Image, ALMA and Imagen Foundation Award nominee. Her song "Freak the Freak Out" is certified gold and singles from "Victorious" have sold more than 3 million tracks to date. She previously started in feature Fun Size with Chelsea Handler.

E-mail: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @Snoodit

Lesley Goldberg