According to The Hollywood Reporter, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice‘s Lawrence Fishburne is in talks to star alongside Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence in Passengers.
Billed as a big-budget pic that blends romance with science-fiction, the film is being scripted by Prometheus scribe Jon Spaihts, and chronicles an interstellar commute gone awry. In the lead role is Pratt, who is rudely awoken 90 years ahead of schedule when a technical malfunction forces him out of cryosleep. Alone aboard a space transport vessel housing thousands of dormant humans, he then makes the rather unconventional choice of waking up a fellow member of the crew: Jennifer Lawrence.
Given that Passengers is primarily a tragic love story between the two leads, it’s unclear which role Fishburne will be filling. Will he step into the shoes of another deep-space commuter? Or will his role be a minor, introductory role prior to the boat making tracks for the distant planet? Time will tell. One role that is ruled out, however, is that of the ship’s AI robot, after Michael Sheen signed on to bring the artificial companion to life early last month.
Due to hit screens in 2016, Passengers has been simmering in development for some time at Sony, during which time Keanu Reeves was attached to the lead role. In fact, Lawrence’s part once attracted the attention of both Rachel McAdams and Resse Witherspoon, but with a nominal cast now locked down and Fishburne and Sheen lending supporting roles, the film is almost ready to take flight.
Just yesterday, Sony Pictures blew the lid off its upcoming cinematic slate, dating no less than 16 feature films in the process. Passengers was one of them, and it’s now on course to open on December 21, 2016 in the States.
