Chaos Walking turned out to be an unexpectedly fitting title for the YA sci-fi movie that’s had a ridiculously long road to the screen. Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley were cast back in 2016, with principal photography occurring in 2017. Poor test screenings in 2018 then forced the cast and crew to reunite for extensive reshoots, which were much delayed due to the leads’ Marvel and Star Wars commitments and finally took place in 2019.
After all that, we’re now just a few months away from the pic being released in theaters and today, our first bit of footage of Holland and Ridley in action appeared online. IGN shared the exclusive teaser trailer on social media, promising that the full thing is coming this Thursday, November 19th at 6am PT/9am ET.
Based on the bestselling novel by Patrick Ness, Chaos Walking is set on a human colony planet in the near future, where a virus has wiped out all women and unleashed a peculiar side effect on the men and animals – the Noise, the uncontrollable ability to hear others’ thoughts and project their own. Teenager Todd Hewitt (Holland) has his understanding of his world turned upside down, however, when he encounters Viola (Ridley), the only female he’s ever met.
Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow) directs, based on a script co-written by Ness. Meanwhile, Mads Mikkelsen co-stars as the tyrannical Mayor Prentiss, with Nick Jonas as his son Davey and David Oyelowo as violent preacher Aaron. Fans have been wondering how the movie would visualize the Noise and this teaser reveals that it’ll be achieved by a mixture of voiceover and images, representing what’s going on in the characters’ minds-eye. That could make for an interesting unique visual experience if done right.
After all the effort they’ve put into it, Lionsgate must be hoping that Chaos Walking will be a success when it finally arrives on January 22nd. 2021. Fingers crossed.
