After Smashed, The Spectacular Now and The End of the Tour, I’d be pumped for absolutely anything that James Ponsoldt attached himself to, but The Circle sounds like an especially promising project. It’s an adaptation of the Dave Eggers novel about a recent college graduate who scores a job at The Circle, an especially influential technology company with a jaw-dropping campus that includes cozy dorms, towering glass dining facilities and all-night parties. It seems like the opportunity of a lifetime but, as one might expect, The Circle’s “all that happens must be known” motto raises some serious concerns.

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While talking to Ponsoldt about his upcoming release, The End of the Tour, he spoke a bit about the status of The Circle and why Alicia Vikander’s involvement didn’t pan out:


“Like any really great actor, she’s got a million things, as she should, and it just comes down to timing. I mean, we’re still gonna make the movie in the timeframe that we talked about, but with a different actor. I love Alicia, she’s great, but I’m super excited. We’ll be shooting in September and October.”

When asked if things worked out with Emma Watson, he didn’t 100% confirm that she’s officially on board, but he certainly seems hopeful that it will happen:

“I am a massive, massive fan of Emma. She’s one of my favorite actors. I mean, when we were first talking casting, I didn’t think that it would work out timing-wise because she’s doing Beauty and the Beast, but it sort of re-shifted and when we realized their schedule, we realized that it would be a possibility. I mean, I would get scared anytime I was like, working on a tight schedule where someone’s doing a huge, huge movie like that. My wife and I are actually having a kid later in the fall so it’s a super tight window for a lot of professional reasons and personal reasons, but in this case it looks like it’s gonna work so I’m excited.”

A baby and a new movie starring Tom Hanks and possibly Emma Watson? Looks like Ponsoldt is going have quite the year.

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Image via A24