The ambitious adaptation of David Mitchell’s novel “Cloud Atlas” for Warner Bros. Pictures and Focus International is getting split into two, at least behind the scenes according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Filmmakers Tom Tykwer and the Wachowski siblings will shoot parallel to each other using two separate film crews. Though not confirmed, it’s expected Tykwer will helm the period story lines while the Wachowski’s will handle the more sci-fi ones.
Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Susan Sarandon, Ben Whishaw and Jim Broadbent will play multiple roles in the ensemble drama which spans six different story lines over a millennia. Each tale is revealed to be a story that is read (or watched) by the main character in the next.
The stories in order include an American notary’s voyage across the Pacific in 1850, a young English musician working as an amanuensis in 1930’s Belgium, a 1970’s Californian journalist investigating corruption around a nuclear plant, a modern day British publisher who becomes confined to a nursing home, a clone political prisoner being executed in a dystopian near future Korea, and a Hawaiian tribesman in a post-apocalyptic distant future telling a story around a campfire.
Grant Hill and Stefan Arndt are producing and shooting will take place mid-to-late September with around 80% of filming to take place at Germany’s Studio Babelsberg.
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