Rooney Mara and Nicholas Hoult have signed on to star in The Discovery, a sci-fi love story set in a world where the existence of the afterlife is scientifically proven.
Charlie McDowell, who helmed The One I Love, will direct. McDowell and Justin Lader, who co-wrote The One I Love together, reunited to write The Discovery.
Hoult plays the son of the man responsible for this discovery, and Mara plays a woman he falls in love with whose life is tinged by a tragic past. Shooting is slated for January in Rhode Island.
Endgame Entertainment and Protagonist Pictures are co-financing the film, and Protagonist will introduce it to buyers at the AFM. ICM Partners is handling domestic rights.
Alex Orlovsky of Verisimilitude is producing the film alongside James D Stern of Endgame Entertainment. Julie Goldstein and Lucas Smith will oversee the project for Endgame, and Mike Goodridge, Dimitra Tsingou and Eddie Vaisman are overseeing for Protagonist.
Hoult’s recent films include sci-fi film Equals, Mad Max: Fury Road and X-Men: Days of Future Past. His upcoming films include X-Men: Apocalypse and Rebel in the Rye in which he will play JD Salinger. Hoult is currently in production on war film Sand Castle. He’s repped by UTA.
Mara will next be seen in the Todd Haynes 1950s love story Carol opposite Cate Blanchett, for which she was awarded the best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival. Next year Mara stars in The Secret Scripture for Jim Sheridan, Weinstein’s Lion for director Garth Davis and the adaptation of the play Blackbird for director Benedict Andrews. She is represented by WME and Management 360.
ICM Partners and MGMT Entertainment represent both McDowell and Lader.