And with that, Sony's sci-fi romance tale Passengers officially picks up steam. Morten Tyldum's (The Imitation Game) latest film has roped Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt in talks to lead the new film.
Variety covered this development. Written by Jon Spaihts (the upcoming Doctor Strange), Passengers takes place on a spacecraft in the future, where thousands to passengers make their galactic voyage to a distant new planet. A passenger (Pratt) wakes up from a frozen 90 year sleep before anyone else and decides to awake a fellow female passenger (Lawrence), whom he sparks a romantic interest in.
Passengers has a troubled history towards development. Initially, Focus acquired the picture two years ago with Keanu Reeves and Reese Witherspoon eyed to star. Later, the Weinstein Company picked up the film, with Rachel McAdams now lined up to replace Witherspoon in the female lead, but neither worked out.
Sony bought the rights to the picture this December, with Tyldum — up for the Best Director Oscar prize this year — signing on to helm the science-fiction movie at the end of January. There's no clear indication as to when production intends to start.
Neal Moritz and Ori Marmur produce through Moritz's Original Film. Michael Maher with Start Media and Stephen Hamel from Company Films are also on board as producers.
Lawrence has The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2 and David O. Russell's Joy released later this year. She's also set to start production soon on X-Men: Apocalypse. Pratt, meanwhile, stars in Jurassic World this year and also currently appears on the final season on Parks and Recreation.
Image courtesy of Peter West/ACE/INFphoto.com