The Exchange is preparing to shop the 2018 Blacklist and Sundance Screenwriter Labs original screenplay Nobody Nothing Nowhere to international buyers. Before it's made available though, Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer, Emmy winner Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Emmy nominee Lucy Liu have been brought in to lead the project. Scribes Rachel Wolther and Alex H. Fischer are set to direct their screenplay while veteran producers Josh Penn and Michael Gottwald of the Department of Motion Pictures and Allison Rose Carter will produce alongside the three stars.
Nobody Nothing Nowhere is a high-concept sci-fi comedy premise centered on Ruth who is part of a group of human-like beings known as Non-People. The Non-People have only one purpose in life - to fill the gaps in a realistic world for the only remaining actual human on Earth, a bland guy named Dave. Ruth is sick of her long life as a background character with no choice, however, and soon demands a free life of her own free from Dave.
The film will mark the feature directorial debut of Wolther who has, to this point, mostly penned and directed short films. She and Fischer previously teamed up for the adventure comedy short Snowy Bing Bongs Across the North Star Combat Zone. Alone, Fischer has one feature to his name with Save Yourselves! which starred Spirited's Sunita Mani. Nobody Nothing Nowhere marks a major step up for the writer-director pair with a starry cast and high-profile producers aboard. Penn and Gottwald previously produced the four-time Academy Award nominee Beasts of the Southern Wild while Carter's work extends from American Honey and Zola to the Best Picture contender Everything Everywhere All At Once. Brian Clisham and Stephanie Kluft of Orit Entertainment, Brian O’Shea, Nat McCormick, and Caddy Vanasirikul of The Exchange, Blair Ward and Anders Erden of Orogen Entertainment, and Christina Campagnola are also on board to executive produce.
"Not only is Nobody Nothing Nowhere a strong commercial project with a hilarious script, but the film also subtly tackles social issues in a mind-boggling cinematic universe, McCormick expressed in his statement for The Exchange. "We are incredibly proud to represent this project at a market and play a part in bringing it to audiences around the world."
Wolther and Fischer Landed Three Stellar Stars for Nobody Nothing Nowhere
Spencer, who earned her Oscar for The Help and a pair of nominations for Hidden Figures and The Shape of Water, has been busy lately, starring in Spirited and in Season 3 of her hit Apple TV+ series Truth Be Told which premiered in January. Gordon-Levitt is known for his work in Inception among other things, but he more recently has been working with director Rian Johnson again, appearing in an episode of his new series Poker Face and voicing the hourly dong of Miles Bron's (Edward Norton) clock in his island complex in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Liu has also been brought aboard a load of high-profile projects lately, including Shazam: Fury of the Gods and Red One as well as Disney's recent animated film Strange World.
In an official statement, Spencer had high praise for Nobody Nothing Nowhere and expressed her excitement to join both Gordon-Levitt and Liu on the project, saying:
Nobody Nothing Nowhere is a wholly original feature film that presents a world and its characters in an entirely unique way. Having the opportunity to work with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Lucy Liu is a dream come true! It is always a priority for me, and my partners at Orit Entertainment, to produce projects that entertain and bring the light, hope and promise audiences are craving. I am excited to be part of such an inventive and thoughtful project.
Filming on Nobody Nothing Nowhere is expected to begin this summer. In the meantime, check out a previous interview with Gordon-Levitt below.