The Expansion Project is a science fiction thriller that had once been at Warner Bros. and seemingly has now switched over to Netflix instead.
Daniel Richtman has posted a new casting grid on his Patreon page which seemingly reveals that the former Warner Bros. film has headed over to Netflix with director Brad Peyton still attached.
The casting information also suggests that Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock (Gravity) is in discussions for the main role of Atlas, who has spent years pursuing an intergalactic terrorist named Harlan Pierce, a proponent of cybernetic argumentation.
After an attack, Atlas becomes stranded on a hostile planet forced to learn how to use a mechanical armored suit outfitted with an artificial intelligence named Smith.
The movie sort of sounds like a mix between Duncan Jones’ Moon, Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium, and James Gray’s Ad Astra.
The Expansion Project’s budget is said to be over $70 million and had been considering shooting in New Zealand.
Screenwriters Leo Sardarian and Aron Coleite penned the script.
Potentially shooting in New Zealand might suggest the involvement of Weta Workshop and Weta Digital, who recently worked with Netflix on the underrated science fiction thriller I Am Mother.
I was a huge fan of I Am Mother and it’s worth checking out if you currently have access to Netflix and includes a robot character that is a suit created by Weta Workshop with a person inside it doing the performance.
I AM MOTHER: A sci-fi thriller about a teenage girl (Clara Rugaard), who is the first of a new generation of humans to be raised by Mother (Rose Byrne), a robot designed to repopulate the earth after the extinction of humankind. But the pair’s unique relationship is threatened when an injured stranger (Hilary Swank) arrives with news that calls into question everything Daughter has been told about the outside world and her Mother’s intentions.
Here is a neat video of how Weta Workshop created and operated the impressive robot suit.
However, with the coronavirus placing all production plans in chaos for the foreseeable future it’s unknown when they’ll be making this ambitious project.
SOURCE: DANIEL RICHTMAN
