A couple of years ago, Olivia Thirlby was one of those ‘next big thing’ actresses, but as with many of the people on that road, she then almost completely disappeared. Following United 93, Juno, and The Wackness, she seemed to be on the verge of breaking through, but while it appeared Hollywood had given up on her in the last couple of years, Heat Vision is reporting Thirlby has scored what may prove to be her highest profile role yet, as one of the leads in The Darkest Hour.
Chris Gorak (Right At Your Door) is behind the lens for this one, with Wanted’s Timur Bekmambetov producing what is a bit of an unusual mix of Hollywood and Russia. The film is set in Moscow and follows a group of Americans traveling in the city when an alien invasion occurs. Thirlby plays a trust fund girl trying to survive the attack who teams up with others to try to defeat the invaders.
The movie will shoot this summer, and the Russian locations will help Bekmambetov keep the costs down, as he has his own studio and special effects company in the country, which can do things far cheaper than Tinsel Town can. Before then, Thirbly will make the long-gestating lesbian werewolf romance, Jack & Diane, suggesting we’ll be seeing a lot more of her in the next year or two.