For the past couple of weeks, we’ve been sharing details of projects being shopped at this week’s Cannes Film Market, which runs parallel to the famous festival, and buyers are especially excited by Ron Howard‘s new film, Origin of Species, which boasts a star-studded cast.
Oscar nominees Ana de Armas (Blonde) and Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley) are set to star alongside Daniel Brühl (who starred in Howard’s racing movie Rush), while Daisy Edgar-Jones (Where the Crawdads Sing) and Oscar winner Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) are in talks to join them.
Noah Pink (Tetris) wrote the script, which is based on two different accounts of the same true story. Deadline describes Origin of Species as “a darkly comic tale of murder and survival, set around a group of eclectic characters who abandon civilization for the Galapagos. They are all searching for the answer to that ever-pressing question that plagues us all — what is the meaning of life?”
Howard’s Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer is producing alongside Karen Lunder, and production is slated to start later this year in Queensland, Australia. Stuart Ford‘s AGC Studios is financing the project and shopping it at Cannes along with CAA Media Finance.
De Armas will soon be seen in the John Wick-adjacent action movie Ballerina, which will feature an appearance from Keanu Reeves‘ deadly assassin, while Edgar-Jones has been busy filming Twisters with Glen Powell. The rising star recently wrapped the indie movie On Swift Horses with Jacob Elordi, Will Poulter, and Diego Calva, and she’s poised to reunite with her Under The Banner Of Heaven co-star Andrew Garfield for Sebastian Leilo‘s next movie, Voyagers. She’s represented by Hamilton Hodell and UTA, the latter of which also reps Brühl and Vikander.
CAA reps de Armas, Law, and Howard, who is coming off of MGM’s excellent survival drama Thirteen Lives, which would’ve been nominated for Best Picture last year if I had my druthers, as it was the director’s most impressive film in years. Here’s hoping he builds on that momentum to deliver something memorable, especially with this buzzy cast.
