EXCLUSIVE: We told you about Ron Howard’s survival thriller Origin of The Species last fall and the project now has a killer cast with Oscar nominee Ana De Armas (No Time To Die), Oscar nominee Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes), Oscar winner Alicia Vikander (Tomb Raider) and Golden Globe nominee Daniel Brühl (All Quiet On The Western Front) all attached.
Howard’s Imagine Entertainment are behind the buzz project with CAA Media Finance and Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios, the latter which is newly aboard to finance and will be selling at the upcoming Cannes market.
Shoot is being lined up for Q4, 2023, in Queensland, Australia. Script comes from Noah Pink (Tetris).
Based on two different accounts of the same true story, the film is being described as an “erotic and 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.”
This is the latest big package to hit the Cannes market, which despite the strike is looking like a trove of opportunities for buyers. Those with scripts further along — and the completed films in the festival –could be even more desirable with holes opening up in schedules due to the strike delaying some projects.
That said, the vast number of projects and some steep budgets also have some buyers questioning the viability of many packages and their theatrical potential. The streamers aren’t as voracious as a couple of years ago, either. Safe to say that a starry Ron Howard pic shouldn’t struggle to find the right home.
