There are as many reports and rumors swirling out of the Annihilation production as, say, a super secret environmental region such as Area X. The latest that we’ve heard is that Garland is considering a fabulous trio of actresses for three of the main roles. The Wrap is reporting that Tessa Thompson might be joining Natalie Portman and Gina Rodriguez for the horrific expedition!
For those of you who haven’t read Jeff VanderMeer’s book (GO READ THE BOOK) the plot is an insidiously simple horror set-up: four unnamed researchers, a biologist, an anthropologist, a psychologist, and a surveyor, go on the 12th mission into Area X, the site of some sort of environmental catastrophe, or maybe evolution, or maybe reckoning. It’s unclear. While they’re there, they encounter horrors involving a Tower tunnel, a lighthouse, and creepy plantlife, and begin to learn what happened to the other eleven expeditions.
Our excitement for this project was already kindled when Alex Garland was announced as the director. Ex Machina was a chilling, thought-provoking work of sci-fi (which we would love even without the added thrill of Oscar Isaac’s punching bag routines) and Garland’s sensibility should be a perfect match for the mounting tension and uncanniness that makes VanderMeer’s book so memorable.
But even looking beyond the wonderfully Lovecraftian subject matter, we’re getting more and more excited about this adaptation with each new casting possibility! Gina Rodriguez is great, Natalie Portman obviously knows her way around crazy surrealism after Black Swan, and the addition of Thompson, who has recently given stellar turns in Creed, Selma, and Dear White People, would be inspired.
Annihilation needs to come out like now. It’s set to start filming in the spring (which is not now) and we’re sure more rumors will creep out in the meantime!
