Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt starring 'Passengers' officially gets greenlight from Sony

Passengers, a long-gestating project that will probably require a making-of book if it actually turns out good, has finally got the green light at Sony. The film will star both Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt.

Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman gave the big-budget sci-fi movie the thumbs up today, following Pratt’s success with Jurassic World. According to The Hollywood Reporter, that success made Pratt’s paycheck for the movie rise from $10 million to $12 million. Lawrence herself got an even bigger deal, signing for $20 million plus 30 percent of the profit if the movie breaks even.

Production on the film could start as soon as July. If Rothman didn’t give the greenlight this week, the movie would have been delayed even further. Another option was giving it over to Jeff Robinov’s Studio 8, which Sony partly owns. Sony also distributes Robinov’s films.

This movie has been in the works for years. Way back in May 2013, The Weinstein Company had acquired the sci-fi romance, which was originally written by Jon Spaihts (Prometheus). At that time, Keanu Reeves and Reese Witherspoon were both attached to star. Witherspoon left, then Rachel McAdams was picked. But when McAdams left in March 2014, the film was taken off the TWC schedule. Eventually, the film moved over to Sony.

In January, Morten Tyldum, who was just nominated for the Best Director Oscar for The Imitation Game, decided to make it his next effort as director. Then in February, Pratt and Lawrence suddenly got interested and it was up to Rothman to OK it before it fell apart again.

Phew. Anyway, the movie is actually about an astronaut on a long-distance trip and wakes up 90 years too early. A female passenger’s sleeping chamber also malfunctions and the two fall in love.

image courtesy of AO IMAGES/INFphoto.com

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