Esteemed British screenwriter and director Steven Knight currently has his hands full with the Tom Hardy-fronted Taboo series, which premiered to relatively strong reviews earlier this month. But Knight is already plotting his next project, and Deadline reports that the writer-director has set sights on Interstellar duo Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway to headline.
It’s called Serenity, a “sexy noir” thriller that sadly doesn’t revolve around a group of interstellar bandits traveling through space in their prized Firefly-class transport ship – sorry, Browncoats. Greg Shapiro (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty) and Guy Heeley are attached to produce, and the project is expected to be snapped up at next month’s European Film Market in Berlin.
Plot-wise, little is known about the story that Knight has rustled up, but early morsels suggest that McConaughey will play the part of a “fishing boat captain whose past is about to crash up against his life on a small island in the Caribbean, ensnaring him in a new reality that might not be all it seems.” Will Serenity incorporate sci-fi themes into its story? It’s too soon to tell, but with McConaughey and Hathaway’s names on the masthead, it’s little wonder why several U.S. studios are already circling. Filming is set to commence sometime this summer.
Coming hot off his scenery-chewing performance in Gold, McConaughey will next be seen as the elusive Man in Black in Nikolaj Arcel’s Dark Tower movie. He’ll also reprise the role of Buster Moon for Universal’s Sing 2. Hathaway, meanwhile, is part of the all-star cast set to feature in the female-led crime caper, Ocean’s Eight. See the first photo of Gary Ross’ leading ladies right here.