The son of deceased music legend David Bowie, Duncan Jones has - in his own way - already made great strides toward carving out his own pop culture legacy as a director and screenwriter. While he’s only made three films so far, two of them - the sci-fi thrillers Moon and Source Code - were big hits with both critics and fans of intelligent sci-fi, and quickly established Jones as a creative force to be reckoned with. His latest film, Warcraft, was a critical flop, but did better with fans of the games it was based on, raking in $433 million worldwide on a $160 million budget.
With Warcraft in his rearview mirror, Jones is moving on to his next project, a return to the sci-fi style that served him so well with Moon and Source Code. Entitled Mute, Jones’ latest is set in an immigrant-filled Berlin, 40 years into our future. The story centers on a determined bartender named Leo Beiler (Alexander Skarsgård, True Blood), who embarks on a relentless quest to find his missing girlfriend. His search leads him to a pair of American surgeons that might possess clues to her whereabouts, one of which is played by Paul Rudd (Ant-Man).
EW is reporting the latest heavy hitter to join the Mute cast is Justin Theroux, currently best known for his leading work as embattled former sheriff Kevin Garvey on HBO’s acclaimed supernatural drama The Leftovers. Unfortunately, what character he will play and how much he’ll figure into the plot has yet to be revealed. Still, Theroux’s profile has only grown in recent years, and he can currently be seen in theaters opposite Emily Blunt in the mystery/thriller The Girl on the Train. It’s hard to imagine that he’d sign on at this point unless the role he was offered was a good one.
Interestingly, Jones has previously hinted on Twitter that Mute will in some way be connected to Moon, although he has yet to offer up any additional info concerning what exactly that connection will be. Perhaps Moon star Sam Rockwell will put in some type of appearance in Mute, as the story of his Moon character, Sam Bell, was left without a definitive resolution at the end of that film. Of course, that’s all speculation until Jones clarifies things further.
One big change for Jones with Mute will be that instead of getting a wide theatrical release, the movie is slated to premiere day and date on Netflix. This continues the streaming giant’s mission to make further headway into the realm of exclusive film content, after having already done quite well for itself with its original TV series. Jones has always seemed like a forward-thinking director though, so it makes perfect sense that he’d opt to do business with an up-and-coming avenue for film distribution.
We’ll keep you updated on Mute as more information becomes available.
Source: EW
