We told you about Ron Howard’s survival thriller Origin of Species last fall and the project now has a killer cast with Oscar nominee Ana De Armas (No Time To Die), Oscar nominee Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes) and Golden Globe nominee Daniel Brühl (All Quiet On The Western Front) attached and Oscar winner Alicia Vikander (Tomb Raider) in talks to join.

Howard’s Imagine Entertainment are behind the buzz project with CAA Media Finance and Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios, the latter which is newly aboard to finance and will be selling at the upcoming Cannes market.

Shoot is being lined up for Q4, 2023, in Queensland, Australia. Script comes from Noah Pink (Tetris).

Based on two different accounts of the same true story, the film is being described as an “a darkly comic tale of murder and survival, set around a group of eclectic characters who abandon civilization for the Galapagos. They are all searching for the answer to that ever-pressing question that plagues us all: what is the meaning of life.”

Producers are Imagine’s Brian Grazer and Karen Lunder.

This is the latest big package to hit the Cannes market, which despite the strike is looking like a trove of opportunity for buyers. Those with scripts further along — and the completed films in the festival —could be even more desirable with holes opening up in schedules due to the strike delaying some projects.

There has been unprecedented anxiety among sellers, producers, agencies and creatives about announcing projects in case they fall foul of WGA strike protocols or for inciting negative PR. But pretty much every package we’re aware of has ultimately gone out or is going out.
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The Weinstein Company has set a limited July 15 release date in the U.S. for its period drama “Tulip Fever,” starring Alicia Vikander, Dane DeHaan, Christoph Waltz and Judi Dench.

It’s TWC’s third release slated for summer, along with Michael Keaton’s “The Founder” on Aug. 5 and Robert De Niro’s “Hands of Stone” on Aug. 26.

“Tulip Fever” is directed by Justin Chadwick from a script by Tom Stoppard, based on Deborah Moggach’s novel of the same name. Producers are Alison Owen and Harvey Weinstein.

Holliday Grainger, Jack O’Connell, Zach Galifianakis, Matthew Morrison, Tom Hollander and Cara Delevingne also star in the drama.

The story is set in 17th century Amsterdam, with Vikander playing a married woman who begins a passionate affair with an artist (DeHaan) hired to paint her portrait. The lovers gamble on the booming market for tulip bulbs as a way to raise money to run away together. Waltz plays Vikander’s husband who commissions the painting.

The project was originally planned for a 2004 shoot with Jude Law and Keira Knightley as the leads and John Madden directing, but the production was halted after government incentives were cut in the U.K. [Source]