Movie Muser

Not many indie films can muster a starry cast like this, but The Moon Ocean has signed up Anne Hathaway, Keanu Reeves, Daniel Radcliffe, Chloe Grace Moretz, Tom Holland, Asa Butterfield, Jeff Goldblum and Abraham Attah.

It’s certainly a step towards the mainstream for director Shane Carruth, who previously impressed many with Primer and Upstream Color.

THR reports that the film, ‘revolves around vengeance and the fierce competition for valuable shipping routes and priceless materials that converge in a spectacular battle on the rolling decks of behemoth cargo ships.’

It’s not clear what role the actors will play.

The Modern Ocean is currently looking for buyers at the American Film Market.

Moon and Source Code director Duncan Jones has been caught up for the last couple of years making Warcraft: The Beginning, but he’s now going back to a movie he was planning before the fantasy filme took over, Mute.

Now he’s beginning to fill the cast, as Variety reports that Paul Rudd & Alexander Skarsgard have signed on to star in the sci-fi thriller.

In the movie, ‘Skarsgard will portray a mute bartender in Berlin, 40 years in the future in what has become a roiling city of immigrants, where East crashes against West. His character will be looking for a woman who has disappeared — and when his search takes him deep into the city’s underbelly, an odd pair of American surgeons (led by Rudd’s character) seem to be the only recurring clue.’

Jones comments, “I’ve been working towards making ‘Mute’ for 12 years now. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am that we’re finally going to shoot this utterly unique film. The fact that I get to make it with Alexander Skarsgard and Paul Rudd makes it all the more exciting!”

Working from a script by Jones and Mike Johnson, the film will start shooting next March.

James McAvoy is currently on set for X-Men: Apocalypse reshoots (which apparently will bring Wolverine into the movie), but just before that film’s release next summer, he’s planning to make something a little different.

Variety reports he’ll star in Submergence for director Wim Wenders, based on J.M. Ledgard’s 2011 novel of the same name. While billed as a romantic thriller, it should certainly allow McAvoy to show off his acting skills.

Submergence ‘centers on two lovers, immersed in life or death situations and separated by thousands of miles, who find solace in memories of their intense romance the previous Christmas after a chance encounter on a beach on the Atlantic coast. One [McAvoy] is enduring captivity by jihadist fighters in Somalia while the other is exploring the greatest depths of the ocean floor from her submersible.’

It’ll shoot next March.

Universal and Legendary have a lot riding on Warcraft (now titled Warcraft: The Beginning to ensure we know it’s planned as the first part of a franchise), as despite videogame to movie adaptations not having a great history at the box office, they’ve pumped hundreds of millions into the movie.

It’s taking a long, long time to get the movie ready, as filming ended almost 18 months ago, and we’re only now at the point where we get the first poster and the promise of a trailer on Friday.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: Orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people and their home.

‘So begins a spectacular saga of power and sacrifice in which war has many faces, and everyone fights for something.

‘Directed by Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) and written by Charles Leavitt and Jones, the film starring Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper, Toby Kebbell, Ben Schnetzer, Rob Kazinsky and Daniel Wu is a Legendary Pictures, Blizzard Entertainment and Atlas Entertainment production.’

It’ll be in cinemas next June.