Hugh Jackman And Rebecca Ferguson To Reteam For Sci-Fi Thriller From 'Westworld's Lisa Joy
Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson are two of the most magnetic movie stars working today, and their chemistry felt a little wasted in The Greatest Showman. So it's good they're reuniting in a sci-fi romantic thriller from the co-creator of HBO's Westworld, Lisa Joy.
Jackman and Ferguson are set to star in Reminiscence, an ambitious sci-fi thriller that will mark Joy's feature directorial debut. The two will lead the Reminiscence cast as a couple who fall in love in a near-future world where technology has enabled people to recapture their memories, in what sounds like a reverse Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind — but with a thriller twist.
Deadline reports that Jackman and Ferguson are finalizing deals to star in Reminiscence, which will be written and directed by Joy in her directorial debut. Joy's script for Reminiscence made the Black List several years ago, but will finally be unveiled for major studios later this week by Endeavor Content. The project comes into being just as Westworld has become a full-fledged phenomenon, with its second season airing last year to much acclaim and buzz.
"It has been a labor of love and also vision," Joy told 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."
Reminiscence is set in a futuristic Miama that has been submerged underwater thanks to global warming, and follows a private eye (Jackman) who deals in recapturing memories for his clients. A new client played by Ferguson intrigues and vexes him, and they fall in love, only for her to mysteriously vanish.
Joy goes on to give a full pitch of her "vision" of the film to Deadline, which you can read the full description here.
"Reminiscence posits a world where that technology does exist. And there's a character named Nick Bannister, played by Hugh Jackman. He is a kind of a P.I. of the mind — think Wolverine meets Humphrey Bogart — and he has a business where, when people want to remember something, they come into his office and he's almost like a psychologist. All the files from our past are stored in our minds, and the question is, which one do you access? How do you get it to the right moment, the moment you're looking for. His skill is asking questions and taking people through this lulling experience, where he finds the moments that you desire to reengage with and immerses you back in them. For a small fee."
From Joy's description, Reminiscence sounds like Paprika meets Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, wrapped up in a seedy noir. And anchored by Jackman and Ferguson, it sounds like a compelling project that will likely get plenty of bidders later this week.