Filming has officially begun on the Chaos Walking movie, and star Daisy Ridley has released the first official behind-the-scenes image, revealing the actress and Tom Holland in the starring roles. The YA adaptation is based on the Patrick Ness novel The Knife of Never Letting Go and takes place in a world devoid of women, where all living creatures can hear one another’s thoughts “in a stream of images, words and sounds called Noice.” When a young boy suddenly stumbles upon a silent young girl, the two set off on a dangerous journey full of twists and turns.
Edge of Tomorrow and The Bourne Identity filmmaker Doug Liman, who just released the Tom Cruise action drama American Made, directs this sci-fi tale, and the project has been kicking around for some time. Robert Zemeckis was once attached to direct, and none other than Charlie Kaufman penned the first draft of the screenplay.
The Knife of Never Letting Go is the first in a trilogy of Chaos Walking novels from Ness, who also wrote A Monster Calls, and if the Lionsgate film is a hit, it’ll no doubt kick off a new franchise for Holland and Ridley, both of whom are already also toplining a couple of other major franchises. The film marks a curious choice for the versatile Liman, who followed up Edge of Tomorrow with the low-budget The Wall and then the complex American Made. He’s also developing that Edge of Tomorrow sequel, and while his films can be hit or miss, they’re always interesting and I can’t wait to see what he does with the YA genre and these two impeccable actors.
Check out the first image below, via Ridley’s Facebook. The film also stars Mads Mikkelsen, Nick Jonas, David Oyelowo, Demián Bichir, and Kurt Sutter. The Chaos Walking movie opens in theaters on March 1, 2019.
Here’s the synopsis for The Knife of Never Letting Go book:
Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him -- something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.
