A director has been set for the long-gestating sci-fi film Passengers, which has Keanu Reeves attached to star.  The story takes place on a spacecraft that is transporting thousands of people to a distant colony.  A malfunction in one of its sleep chambers causes a single passenger to awake 90 years before everyone else, and faced with the prospect of growing old and dying alone, he decides to wake up a second passenger.  What follows is a love story under rather unique circumstances.  Deadline reports that Brian Kirk, who has helmed episodes of Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire, has been tapped to make his feature directorial debut on the project for Wayfare Entertainment.

Kirk was previously eyed to direct the upcoming Thor sequel before the job eventually went to fellow Game of Thrones alum Alan Taylor.  Passengers has a script by Prometheus co-writer Jon Spaihts, and with a director now set, production can hopefully get underway sooner rather than later.  The world could definitely use more original sci-fi films, and Passengers promises to be a welcome addition.