He plays fan favorite Daryl Dixon on AMC’s apocalyptic smash hit The Walking Dead, and now Norman Reedus is making the jump back to the silver screen with his first toplining action role since The Boondock Saints II: All Saint’s Day. The actor will team with his Walking Dead executive-producer Robert Kirkman for the sci-fi thriller Air. Blood Diamond‘s Djimon Hounsou is also attached to star in the film.
Air takes place in a future underground cryogenic facility, after nuclear fallout has rendered Earth’s atmosphere toxic. Reedus and Hounsou play the facility’s two custodial workers, who struggle to maintain their own sanity and stay alive whilst protecting the facility’s dormant inhabitants, intended to repopulate society at some point in the far future, and maintaining the delicate atmosphere of the facility.
The low-budget thriller comes from video-game scribe Christian Cantamessa,who designed and co-wrote Red Dead Redemption, and Chris Pasetto. Cantamessa and Pasetto previously collaborated on a short film titled How I Survived the Zombie Apocalypse, with both writing and Cantamessa directing, which is the same strategy that will be applied to Air. Though I haven’t seen the short, it looks like their work on it was enough to convince Kirkman that the duo were well-worth investing in.
Kirkman will produce under his Skybound Entertainment banner, which has been busy developing Kirkman’s comic adaptation Outcast at Cinemax and producing various comics. Fellow Walking Dead exec Dave Alpert will also produce, as will Insidious exec-producer Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and The ABCs of Death producer Chris Ferguson. Reedus has also been confirmed to executive-produce Air.
Given that Reedus, Kirkman and Alpert are all involved with Air, the chances seem high that the flick will be able to balance Walking Dead levels of tension with fine acting. And with Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions reportedly on the verge of scooping it up for wide distribution, I have a feeling we’ll be seeing Air sooner rather than later. I, for one, am certainly looking forward to it.
Tell us, does Air intrigue you, or have you had your fill of post-apocalyptic thrillers? Let us know below!
