Benedict Cumberbatch, Laura Dern & Noah Jupe to Star in Sci-Fi from Aussie Director Justin Kurzel

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Aussie director Justin Kurzel, known for Snowtown, Assassin’s Creed, Macbeth and Nitram, has a new film on the way – and he’s got quite the lead cast signed up thus far.

On board to star in Morning, a sci-fi film set in the near future, is A Quiet Place‘s Noah Jupe, Oscar nominee Benedict Cumberbatch, and Oscar winner Laura Dern. Dern and Cumberbatch will be among the executive producers, the latter having picked up the screenplay alongside Adam Ackland via their SunnyMarch production banner.

Morning‘s plot, according to Deadline:

…is set in a near future where society has a pill that does away with the need to sleep. With the added help of an artificial sun, there is no end to morning daylight, living and work. However, as a young generation grows up deprived of the world of sleep, they consider rebelling to reclaim their dreams.

 

[…] The ambitious and driven Cathy (Dern) was an early advocate of a sleepless world, but as she and her son Danny (Jupe) pick up the pieces of their lives following the death of her husband Frank (Cumberbatch), she finds the universe she helped to build is starting to crumble around her, whilst memories she fought so hard to repress are bleeding into her waking life. As Danny is further drawn into a subversive underworld of dreamers, Cathy must confront her nightmares and fight hard not to lose her son.

The screenplay was penned by up-and-comer Sam Steiner, who is also behind the script from upcoming Carey Mulligan-starring, Cate Blanchett-produced film titled Fingerprints.

“Morning is a joyful, reflective, and defiant story about a reality not so far from our own where a preoccupation with productivity has destroyed our ability to connect, grieve and love,” Ackland said in a statement.

“We cannot wait to see this incredibly talented cast and creative team headed by Justin, Laura and Noah bring Sam’s brilliantly original script to life.”

Morning will reportedly be reuniting Kurzel with cinematographer Adam Arkapaw (Snowtown, Assassin’s Creed, Macbeth) and designer Alice Babidge (Snowtown, Nitram).

Kurzel’s most recent film, Nitram, looking at the man behind the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, was released on Australian streaming service Stan in November 2021.


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