The Wachowski brothers and Tom Tykwer’s adaptation of David Mitchell’s novel, Cloud Atlas, is set to be one of the most intriguing films to look forward to next year. With a notoriously labyrinthine plot, the possibility of adapting it for the big screen sounds as though it is a mammoth task not to be taken lightly.
We got our first look at the film when some photos surfaced from the set back in September, followed by the image of the directors and the novelist on the set just before Christmas, having wrapped production. We’ve now got a new image – the first official look at a character – to share with you, along with some terrific concept art for the film, courtesy of HanCinema via Collider.
The official synopsis for the film is yet to be released, so we don’t know how much, if at all, it will differ from the book, but the original novel’s synopsis looks a little like this, courtesy of Amazon:
“A reluctant voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a disinherited composer blagging a precarious livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; a high-minded journalist in Governor Reagan’s California; a vanity publisher fleeing his gangland creditors; a genetically modified “dinery server” on death-row; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander witnessing the nightfall of science and civilisation — the narrators of Cloud Atlas hear each other’s echoes down the corridor of history, and their destinies are changed in ways great and small.”
The adaptation has a tremendous cast, including Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving, Hugh Grant, Halle Berry, Jim Sturgess, Ben Whishaw, Susan Sarandon, James D’Arcy, and Doona Bae, the last of whom we get to see in this new image. The cast have been announced as interestingly taking on multiple roles through the course of the film, which is certainly something that has peaked our interest.
Tykwer and the Wachowski brothers worked together to co-write the screenplay adaptation of Mitchell’s novel, and with production now wrapped, things are looking good to meet the expected release towards the end of next year. No word yet on a specific release date, but if all goes well in post-production, we should have seen it on the big screen here by this time next year. I can’t wait. That should give me just enough time to read the original novel. Without further ado, here are the great new images. As usual, with the concept art, click to enlarge. That the synopsis makes mention of a traveller in 1850 and the second of the concept images is titled ‘Seoul, 2144’ should give you an idea of the scope we can look forward to with this next year.
