So I wasn’t the biggest fan of Juan Antonio Bayona‘s The Impossible, but I love his work on The Orphanage and it’s not my belief that one bad egg spoils the bunch when it comes to directors so I’m quite excited for his next feature, A Monster Calls, which just began production on its way to a October 14, 2016 release. With the news of the production start we also have word on the rest of the film’s cast.
Already cast were Felicity Jones and Liam Neeson, but we now learn Lewis MacDougall, who will also be seen as Nibs in Joe Wright‘s Pan, will play the central role of Conor, a 12-year-old who attempts to deal with his mother’s (Jones) illness and the bullying of his classmates by escaping into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales that explore courage, loss and faith.
[amz asin=”B00D460VJ2″ size=”small”]Neeson will star in performance-capture and voiceover as the nocturnally visiting monster of the title, Sigourney Weaver will portray Conor’s maternal grandmother, Toby Kebbell (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) will play Conor’s father and Geraldine Chaplin rounds out the cast. Patrick Ness penned the screenplay, which is an adaptation of his own book of the same name.
One added bonus the film will have going for it, is by 2016 Felicity Jones should be able to carry the “Academy Award Nominee” descriptor due to her work in this year’s The Theory of Everything, at least… that’s what I’m predicting at the moment.
Bayona is expected to direct World War Z 2 after he completes A Monster Calls and both films are expected to hit theaters in 2016.
