With Sundance entering its final stages (gone too soon!), it’s time to look ahead to the next big film festival, Berlin. And while there are plenty of films to be talking about, Berlin also brings with it the chance for producers to pitch distributors on their next big films. And it appears that one of the biggest to be brought to Berlin in 2019 will be the upcoming sci-fi love story from “Westworld” co-creator Lisa Joy that stars Rebecca Ferguson and Hugh Jackman.
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Deadline is reporting that Joy will not only write the script, but will also make her feature directorial debut on the upcoming “Reminiscence.” As you might expect from one of the minds that brings you the mindfuck that is “Westworld,” the upcoming film is equally as unique. “Reminiscence” tells the story of a private investigator (Jackman) that is hired by clients to track down cherished memories for them in a near-future Miami (that happens to be mostly sunk under water thanks to climate change). However, his world gets thrown for a loop when he meets his latest client (Ferguson).
“It has been a labor of love and also vision,” Joy says. “I know exactly what I want this to be, including all of the action set pieces, and turning Miami into a sunken world. Working on ‘Westworld’ has been an incredible experience in learning to make something with the scope of a feature on a TV timeline with a budget nowhere near what you would expect for a feature film equivalent.”
Of course, you can’t go wrong with a film if you cast Jackman and Ferguson as your leads. And for Joy, she immediately thought of Jackman for the main role. “The one person who was always in my mind, from the first day, was Hugh Jackman. It’s this crazy love story and it’s totally unreal to me. I drew his costume on him, I have all these sketches and I thought, it has to be him,” she reveals.
When talking about why she approached Ferguson for the role, Joy is equally as enthusiastic, saying, “When I started watching Rebecca Ferguson, I was blown away. In very intense scenes with huge movie stars, my eyes would drift to her because she was this powerful core in the center of this whirlwind film. She has this intelligence to her eyes and her performance speaks volumes. You just want to keep looking closer to figure out who she is. She’s got this timelessness to her performances that defies expectations and she’s beautiful and sexy. But that is literally just the tip of the iceberg.”
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It doesn’t hurt that Jackman and Ferguson already have chemistry, thanks to their roles in the hit film “The Greatest Showman.”
As mentioned, “Reminiscence” will be shopped around at Berlin, but it’s safe to say that the film will be picked up pretty damn fast.