PASSENGERS Roundup

 

Here is everything we know about the upcoming sci-fi romance Passengers.

Cast

The current cast consists of main characters Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt. Most recently, Laurence Fishburne is reported to be in final negotiations to join this space drama with Michael Sheen having joined shortly before that.

Previous actors that were attached to the film included Rachel McAdams, Reese Witherspoon, Emily Blunt,  and Keanu Reeves.

[MORE at The Tracking Board and TTB]

Plot

The story goes: a large spaceship carrying thousands of passengers is traveling to a distant new planet. While all of the passengers are in cryogenic sleep, there is a malfunction on one sleep pod, and Chris Pratt’s character awakens…90 years too early. His fear of growing old and dying alone leads him to wake another passenger up, this one played by Jennifer Lawrence. And so begins this unique space romance.

Director

Much like the cast, the director’s chair has changed hands quite a bit since this film first started its journey. After Gabriele Muccino, Marc Forster, and Brian Kirk each left the project at their respective times, Morten Tyldum is reportedly stepping up to direct his first big studio picture. Tyldum is most recently known for his Best Director Oscar nomination for The Imitation Game.

[More at The Tracking Board]

Screenwriter and His Script

The only consistency this film has had since it began its foray into production was the screenplay penned by Jon Spaihts. The screenplay was so good, in fact, it was featured in the 2007 Blacklist. The Blacklist is a list of the “most liked” unmade scripts of the year. This list is compiled from the suggestions of major players in Hollywood, with a script needing to be mentioned at least twice to be featured. Passengers was mentioned 38 times.

[More from the Blacklist]

Producers

Before Sony bought the rights in December, this film was set up at Universal. Currently, Original Films’ Neal Moritz and Ori Marmu will produce along with Michael Maher for Start Media and Stephen Hamel for Company Films.

Release Date

According to Variety, Sony has dated the releases of 16 films, including Passengers. It is slated for an award season push, premiering on December 21, 2016.

[More at Variety]

Budget

There has been some behind the scenes drama over the budget for Passengers, but even with the budget conscious Tom Rothman calling the shots at Sony, it is still very likely this project will have a $100 million + budget in the end.

[More at Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter]

[featured images: Credit: Nathan Leber/NASA]