Netflix film project IO sees Captain America cohort Anthony Mackie co-star with Margaret Qualley and Danny Huston.
The film industry has no shortage of dark, dystopian dramas – especially of the YA (young adult) variety. However, an upcoming entry similarly sporting apocalyptic tropes will bypass theaters and directly head to your streaming delivery device on Netflix. Moreover, it will be boosted by an interesting cast, focusing on an up-and-coming ingénue.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, an independently developed science fiction film project called IO landed an exclusive distribution deal that will see it debut sometime next year on Netflix. With that platform effectively set, the project managed to wrangle primary cast members Anthony Mackie (Captain America: Civil War, The Hurt Locker), Margaret Qualley (HBO’s The Leftovers, The Nice Guys) and Danny Huston (American Horror Story, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, 21 Grams).
IO will manifest as a coming-of-age story, something that would seemingly designate it as a member of the YA category from the outset. However, this isn’t a piece of dystopic fiction in which hunky monsters woo doting debutante protagonists who make puzzling life choices. Rather, it’s about the fate of Earth in a far future in the aftermath of a global catastrophe that has left the planet a poisonous floating ball of death.
Teenager Sam Walden (Qualley, pictured above), one of the last people left alive on the mostly-abandoned planet, attempts to find a cure for the planetary ailment. However, in a dilemma people who rely on public transportation can understand, Sam must find said cure before the last shuttle evacuating people to a distant planet housing a human space colony departs for its one-way trip. However, during her quest, Sam encounters the mysterious drifter with a complex story named Micah (Mackie), who also happens to be headed to that last shuttle off the planet’s septic surface. The duo collaborate their efforts against seemingly insurmountable odds to save Earth. – Huston’s role remains a mystery at this point.
The film, a product of the Sundance Institute’s Writers Lab and the Sundance Institute Catalyst Forum, will see helmer Jonathan Helpert occupy the director’s chair. Helpert’s feature directorial debut came about with the 2015 French sci-fi/comedy film House of Time in which a group of friends find themselves transported back in time to 1944 during the Nazi occupation. Helpert works off a script by Clay Jeter (Chef’s Table), Charles Spano (Embers) and Will Basanta (Jess + Moss).
IO will reportedly begin production in France this week and is currently planned for a global release on Netflix sometime in 2017.