The Cannes Film Festival is always chock full of deal reports, and today we’re hearing news about a psychological thriller titled 2:22, being shopped around at the festival by Good Universe. According to Variety, the film has just gained Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter star Benjamin Walker and Warm Bodies actress Teresa Palmer in the leading roles.
Paul Currie (TV’s Twentysomething) is set to direct for his Lightstream Pictures. The script is written by Currie, Nathan Parker (Moon) and newcomer Todd Stein. We don’t know all that much about the story yet, but it sounds like a mix of sci-fi and action in the spirit of films like Source Code and, to a lesser degree, the upcoming Tom Cruise vehicle Edge of Tomorrow. According to Variety:
Walker will portray a man whose life is derailed when an ominous pattern of events repeats itself in exactly the same manner every day, ending at precisely 2:22 p.m. He falls for a beautiful woman whose life is threatened by these strange events, forcing him to solve the mystery of 2:22.
That’s not much to go on, but the involvement of Parker and two talented stars give me hope for 2:22 (a title that has less of a chance of sticking than All You Need Is Kill had).
Cameras will roll on the film in Australia this October, and Good Universe will attempt to sell the project at Cannes. Currie is also on board as a producer (through his Lightstream Pictures), alongside Pandemonium’s Bill Mechanic and Walk The Walk Entertainment’s Steve Hutensky.
In addition to Walker’s leading role in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, the actor will also appear in the upcoming Heart of the Sea, a Ron Howard-directed historical nautical thriller adapted from the book be Nathaniel Philbrick, and action-adventure fantasy The Moon and the Sun, which was also produced by Currie, Mechanic and Hutensky.
Palmer’s star has also been on the rise, thanks to her roles in Terrence Malick’s long-anticipated Knight of Cups, drama The Ever After, thriller Kill Me Three Times, John Hillcoat’s crime drama Triple Nine and thriller Cut Bank. With 2:22 now on her slate as well, audiences will be seeing a lot more of the actress in the coming years.
