House Of Cards’ Kate Mara is strengthening her ongoing relationship with Fox as the actress has now signed up to star in its upcoming sci-fi thriller Morgan. While this will be Mara’s third sci-fi collaboration with the studio, it’s touted as the first for its director, Luke Scott. Son of filmmaker Ridley Scott – who recently directed Mara in The Martian – Scott will make his break into features on the movie.
The forthcoming flick is set up at the studio via Scott Free Productions, with Ridley Scott, Michael Schaefer and Elishia Holmes all on board to produce. The trio developed the pic in-house alongside Luke Scott and writer Seth Owen, whose screenplay landed on the 2014 Blacklist – a celebrated collection of the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood.
In its early stages, the sole scrap of story information on the pic also surfaced today:
“The story of Morgan centers on a corporate risk-management consultant who is summoned to a remote research lab to determine whether or not to terminate an at-risk artificial being.”
Another venture into the realm of artificial life could be a solid choice for Scott’s first foray into features. This year, a plethora of similarly-themed pics have bowed (Vice, Ex-Machina), indicating tastes and trends are shifting towards that sub-genre of sci-fi.
Elsewhere on the casting front, Anya Taylor-Joy, who snagged good reviews for her turn in Sundance horror hit The Witch, is apparently in final negotiations to co-star opposite Mara. Two female leads in a Fox sci-fi movie? That’s a promising aspect indeed. One of the most memorable instances wherein that setup was broached was in 1997’s Alien Resurrection. Here’s hoping that Morgan avoids the pitfalls of that sci-fi misfire.