If Todd Haynes anchored the award-winning Carol with two exciting A-listers in Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett, then the director looks set to continue that streak with his next project, Wonderstruck.
Lifted from Brian Selznick’s acclaimed novel of the same name, we now have word that Michelle Williams will star opposite Kingsman: The Golden Circle‘s Julianne Moore in the big-screen adaptation. Marking a reunion for the actress after collaborating with Haynes on 2007’s I’m Not There, Williams is on board to play the mother of Ben, one of two young children at the heart of Selznick’s sprawling tale.
Hopping between 1927 and 1977, Wonderstruck charts Ben’s intimate connection with Rose, a young girl who dreams of a mysterious actress she doesn’t yet know.
Here’s the official synopsis pulled from Selznick’s book:
Ben and Rose secretly wish their lives were different. Ben longs for the father he has never known. Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she chronicles in a scrapbook. When Ben discovers a puzzling clue in his mother’s room and Rose reads an enticing headline in the newspaper, both children set out alone on desperate quests to find what they are missing.
Set fifty years apart, these two independent stories — Ben’s told in words, Rose’s in pictures — weave back and forth with mesmerizing symmetry. How they unfold and ultimately intertwine will surprise you, challenge you, and leave you breathless with wonder.
No production timeline has been set for Todd Hayne’s Wonderstruck, though with Moore and now Williams both attached, we expect the cameras to begin rolling later in 2016. As for the latter actress, she’ll next be seen in Kenneth Lonergan’s festival darling, Manchester By the Sea.