It feels like just a few months ago, we were lamenting and asking, “whatever happened to Andrew Niccol” the director of “Gattaca”?
He hasn’t directed a film since 2005’s “Lord Of War,” and his follow-up project, “The Cross” has been in limbo for what seems like years, but things are looking up for the New Zealand-born director.
Cillian Murphy is circling a role in his latest picture, “I.m mortal” a sci-fi drama about aging which will also feature Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried. That’s a hell of a cast and ostensibly things been looking good since this new project was announced in the spring, but in Hollywood sometimes you just never know. But “I.m mortal” looks like it’s definitely ready to go.
The sci-fi project takes place in a future where “time has become the currency. The rich are immortal, while the rest struggle to stay alive. When a rebel (Timberlake) from the ghetto is falsely accused of murdering a wealthy man for his time, he is forced to go on the run with a beautiful hostage (Seyfried). Together, this duo rages against the system, living minute to minute. They discover that love is more powerful than all the time in the world.”
Cillian will play a an officer known as a “timekeeper” and according to THR, production starts in late September. The description sounds like Murphy’s role will be some kind of antagonist. In this future world, “the aging gene has been switched off. To avoid overpopulation, time has become the currency and the way people pay for luxuries and necessities. The rich can live forever, and the rest try to negotiate for their immortality.”
It does sound more of a rote sci-fi thriller than a drama, but hopefully in Niccol’s hands, we’ll get something closer to “Gattaca” which is still his finest work.
