Shooting has begun on the Wachowski Siblings‘ new sci-fi film, Jupiter Ascending.  The film follows Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis), a recent Russian immigrant who has to scrub toilets for a living, but then discovers she has the genetic signature that makes her next in line to be Queen of the Universe.  The movie is currently shooting at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden and will remain in the U.K. until June.  The production will then move to Chicago to finish filming.

Hit the jump for the first full synopsis.  The film also stars Channing Tatum, Eddie Redmayne, Douglas Booth, Tuppence Middleton, Doona Bae, James D’Arcy, and Sean Bean.  Jupiter Ascending opens in 3D on July 25, 2014.

The Wachowski Siblings are headed to TV by developing the 10-episode series Sense8 for Netflix.  The series will be co-developed with J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5).  There are currently no plot details aside from the vague description of “a gripping global tale of minds linked and souls hunted”, but in a press release, the Wachowskis said, “Several years ago, we had a late night conversation [with Straczynski] about the ways technology simultaneously unites and divides us, and out of that paradox ‘Sense8′ was born.”  I’m not a big fan of Straczynski’s work, but I’ll see anything the Wachowskis put together.  Netflix is also continuing their savvy decision to pair with recognized talent like they did with David Fincher on House of Cards.

Hit the jump for the press release.  Sense8 is set to arrive on Netflix Watch Instantly in late 2014.

Though he ultimately didn’t land the Harry Osborn role in the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man 2, it appears that burgeoning newcomer Eddie Redmayne  will be just fine.  The actor was in the running for the pivotal role in the Spider-Man sequel that eventually went to Dane DeHaan, but now the Les Miserables star has landed an equally (if not more) exciting role: a part opposite Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis in writers/directors Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski’s sci-fi film Jupiter Ascending.  Hit the jump for more.

Cloud Atlas is one of my favorite films this year, but I’m not ready to declare the best film I’ve seen this year.  Even though 2012 isn’t over, there have been other films that I enjoyed more and worked slightly better for me.  But Cloud Atlas is definitely the most important film I’ve seen this year in terms of what it represents from an industry perspective.  It is an independent film with a major budget.   The film had the technical resources to meet its grand ambition.  The Wachowski Siblings and Tom Tykwer have been able to successfully craft their vision and do so outside the Hollywood system, which is good because Hollywood never would have made a movie Cloud Atlas.  And if Cloud Atlas tanks, they never will.

You have the power to change that.

Warner Bros. has released a new behind-the-scenes featurette for The Wachowski Siblings and Tom Tywker‘s Cloud Atlas.  The studio has a difficult task of selling the movie because it’s so different than what audiences are used to, and yet the film is surprisingly accessible if you’re willing to go along with its central conceit: six storylines with overlapping themes and shared actors.  The trailers and TV spots are pushing glowing pull quotes and the overarching plot devices, and this new featurette is in line with that marketing approach.  The only hurdle is in trying to get audiences to go in even though they don’t know the individual plotlines.  It’s a challenge viewers need to meet or else they’ll be missing out on one of the year’s best films.

Hit the jump to check out the featurette, and click here for my review of the film.  The movie stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, Keith David, David Gyasi, Susan Sarandon, and Hugh Grant.  Cloud Atlas opens October 26th.

I can’t wait to see the Wachowski Siblings and Tom Tywker‘s Cloud Atlas again.  It’s a stunning piece of filmmaking, and one of the best films I’ve seen all year.  The ambition, thoughtfulness, and majesty of the picture are a wonder to behold, and I’m glad that the filmmaker took some time to talk about the movie.  The Wachowskis are notoriously press shy, but they’ve really opened up when it comes to Cloud Atlas, first with a piece in the New Yorker and now an extended interview with Hitfix.  In the interview, they talk about the music, establishing the film’s tone, keeping the tonal balance across six different genres, the structure, casting Tom Hanks, their next picture Jupiter Ascending, and much more.

Hit the jump to check out what they had to say.  Cloud Atlas opens October 26th.

“My life exists far beyond the limitations of me,” a character notes in Cloud Atlas.  By the same token, The Wachowski Siblings and Tom Tykwer‘s film exists far beyond the limitations of genre, narrative, identity, and time.  It is a work of sweeping ambition, engrossing stories, compelling characters, and powerful emotions.  The filmmakers have taken David Mitchell’s novel, and rebuilt it into a captivating sextuplet filled with love, hate, redemption, damnation, bravery, cowardice, and more.  Through skillful editing and astounding performances, Cloud Atlas is a cinematic experience like few others, and it will leave viewers in awe.

The Wachowski Siblings and Tom Twyker‘s highly ambitious adaptation of Cloud Atlas now has a release date and a run-time.  According to Thompson on Hollywood, Warner Bros. has picked up distribution rights at Cannes for $20 million, and will release the movie on December 6th.  Additionally, the movie reportedly runs at 2-hours and 44-minutes, which seems about right when you consider that the movie spans six time periods, and you have an ensemble cast each playing multiple roles.  For example, Hugh Grant will be playing six “incredibly evil” characters in the movie, and Halle Berry said one of her roles is a Jewish woman in the 1930s, and another is an old tribal woman.

Hit the jump for a synopsis.  Cloud Atlas also stars Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Hugo Weaving, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, and Jim Sturgess.   Surprisingly, the only other film set to open the same weekend as Cloud Atlas is Hyde Park on Hudson, but the following Friday is the blockbuster one-two punch of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Les Miserables.

Always swinging for the fences, The Wachowski Siblings and Tom Tykwer‘s adaptation of David Mitchell‘s novel Cloud Atlas sounds incredibly ambitious.  The cast, which includes Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Weaving, Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess, Susan Sarandon, Ben Whishaw, and Hugh Grant, has each of the actors playing different characters in different eras.  Furthermore, the actors will be undergoing radical transformations for their roles.  Whishaw says the actors are swapping genders and races, and now Hugh Grant says he has cameos as six “incredibly evil” characters, which is a radical transformation from his standard “charmingly befuddled” character.

Hit the jump for more.

Andy and Lana Wachowski are currently at work adaptation David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas plus they’ve got their mysterious Cobalt Neural 9, an uninspiring new take on Robin Hood, and now it looks like they’re going back to the action-sci realm.  According to Deadline, Warner Bros. has picked up the siblings’ original script Jupiter Ascending and put it on the fast track for a spring start date.  The studios is reportedly looking for an A-list star to lead the film and, to the surprise of no one, the script and logline are being kept under tight wraps.  It will be another (most likely expensive) film in the pipeline for Warner Bros., which is also putting adaptations of Akira and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in front of cameras next Spring.

Deadline also reports that Cobalt Neural 9, a hard-R drama that centered on a homosexual relationship between an American soldier and Iraqi citizen, has had trouble picking up funding.  I’m excited to hear what Jupiter Ascending is about, and will try to block The Matrix Revolutions from my memory.

The Wachowski Siblings and Tom Tykwer’s audacious adaptation of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas has been long in development but it will finally go before cameras in mid-to-late September.  Mitchell’s novel spans six different lifetimes across six different eras.  The film stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Susan Sarandon, Ben Whishaw, and Jim Broadbent.  If you’re wondering about the ambition of the project, Weaving said back in May that he was playing six different characters, which sounds like each actor won’t be playing just one character in one time period.

However, the project will also be working with less money.  Producer Stefan Ardnt tells THR that the budget for Cloud will be “definitely lower” than then rumored $100 – $120 million, which isn’t too surprising.  Speed Racer was a flop and Tykwer has never worked with $100+ budget.  However, the production has gotten significant tax breaks by shooting about 80% of the movie in Babelsberg, Berlin and the surrounding area.  The film is also getting made due to a unique financing arrangement from Berlin bank IFB and German regional film funding body, the Medienboard.  Hit the jump for more details on Cloud Atlas.

Speaking to folks who have read David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas, there seems to be a shared agreement that they don’t know how it can be adapted into a movie.  The novel spans across different eras and different lifetimes: “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 civilization”.  The film stars Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving, Ben Whishaw, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, and Jim Broadbent, and all of the actors are playing multiple roles with Weaving revealing he gets to play six different characters.  Weaving explained to the Herald Sun [via The Playlist]:

“That’s a project that’s really exciting because all the actors will be playing more than one role I actually have six characters in the same film and they are all different people in six different stories.”

The Wachowski Siblings will be co-directing with Tom Tykwer and the ambition of the project makes this a movie to keep on your radar.  Filming is set to begin in September for a likely 2013 release.  Hit the jump for the synopsis of the novel.

Yesterday, we reported some casting news for The Words and The Wachowski Siblings/Tom Tykwer’s adaptation of Cloud Atlas.  Turns out those films weren’t quite finished in the casting department.  Producer Cassian Elwes has tweeted [via The Playlist] that Zoe Saldana will star alongside Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Irons, and Dennis Quaid in The Words.  The drama centers on a celebrated writer (Cooper) who must pay the price for stealing the work of another author (Irons).  I imagine the price is somewhat higher than the lawyer’s fees for the litigation that would most likely occur in a less-interesting movie.

In other casting news, ScreenDaily reports that Susan Sarandon and Jim Broadbent are in talks to join Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving, Ben Whishaw, and Halle Berry in Cloud Atlas.  The movie is based on David Mitchell’s acclaimed novel that spans the progress of a soul across six separate existences across several centuries.  Shooting is planned to begin this September.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of the novel.

As production nears closer for the big-budget adaptation of Cloud Atlas, the cast is starting to come together. Last month, Tom Hanks was confirmed to star in the adaptation that will be directed by the Wachowski siblings and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run). Now, THR reports that Hugo Weaving and Ben Whishaw (I’m Not There) have joined the cast. The report also confirms earlier rumors that Halle Berry will indeed appear in the film.

No word on which roles the actors will take on at the moment, but production is set to begin this fall. Warner Bros. is releasing the film in North America and Focus Features International is currently looking for buyers at Cannes. The Wachowskis and Twyker are writing the film as well as directing. Hit the jump to read the synopsis for David Mitchell’s novel.

As early as last summer, we heard that Tom Hanks would star in an adaptation of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas.  Then there was confusion over who would be writing and directing: The Wachowski Siblings and/or Tom Tykwer.  In January, Natalie Portman—who was also rumored to co-star—said that the Wachowskis and Tykwer were directing together.  Today, we have confirmation on both facts with Deadline reporting that Hanks will star and that the Wachowskis and Tykwer will write and direct the movie.

Portman also said she had a small role in the film, but there’s currently no confirmation that she’s on board at this point.  We’re also awaiting confirmation on whether or not James McAvoy and Halle Berry will be in the film, which is scheduled to begin shooting in September.  Hit the jump for more on the project including a synopsis of the novel.