If you were hoping to see a reunion between Hugh Jackman and his Greatest Showman star Rebecca Ferguson, wrapped in the trappings of a fascinating science fiction tale, then Westworld's Lisa Joy is here to make your dreams come true. She's written and will direct the pair in a new film called Reminiscence.
Set in a future where the oceans have risen and much of the population of Miami has switched to a nocturnal schedule. This is also a world where people such as Jackman's Nick Bannister – who Joy describes as a "PI of the mind" – uses technology to dig into people's memories in order to help them with problems. When a mysterious woman (Ferguson) arrives in his office seeking help with lost keys, the stage is set for an epic romance, one cut short when she vanishes.
Nick will have to unpack his lover's past to find her, facing danger along the way. It's a concept Joy has been thinking about for a long time, and writing for five years, even as Westworld began to take up more of her time. Now, she's ready to make the movie, scheduling a shoot in October in New Orleans and Venice to start after the majority of work on the show's third season is complete. "It has been a labor of love and also vision," she tells Deadline. "I know exactly what I want this to be, including all of the action set pieces, and turning Miami into a sunken world. Working on Westworld has been an incredible experience in learning to make something with the scope of a feature on a TV timeline with a budget nowhere near what you would expect for a feature film equivalent."
With Jackman and Ferguson aboard, the rights to this one will be sold next week in the States and at Berlin's European Film Market, and we'd expect hefty interest given the stars and director. You can read Joy's extensive, intriguing and surprisingly spoiler-free pitch for the movie at Deadline.
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