‘Chaos Walking’, directed by Doug Liman (‘Live Die Repeat’), based on the books by Patrick Ness, wrapped filming in November 2017. It was due to be released on March 1, 2019, but following poor test screenings, in April 2019, it was announced that the film required weeks of reshoots, which wrapped in May. It appears that Liman wasn’t available, so they were overseen by Fede Álvarez (‘Don’t Breathe’). At the time of the reshoots, buzz from insiders was that ‘Chaos Walking’ was so bad it was “unreleasable.” (And this came from the Wall Street Journal! It wasn’t just Twitter gossip.)
But now it seems that this chaos is fit for viewing. Lionsgate has scheduled it to open on January 22, 2021, which will be Martin Luther King weekend. There are currently no other major films scheduled to open then. So it will open not-quite four years after principal photography wrapped. Its production budget is a reported $100 million, including the extra $15M spent on reshoots.
Here is the film’s synopsis:
In the near future, Todd Hewitt has been brought up to believe that a pathogen has killed all women in a colony world and unleashed Noise, the special ability to hear people’s and animals’ minds. Later, he comes upon a patch of silence and soon discovers the source of the silence: a mysterious woman named Viola Eade – the first he has ever met. On the run, they learn more about the true history of the New World.
Holland plays Todd, with Ridley as Viola. The cast also includes Mads Mikkelsen as David Prentiss, the cruel Mayor of Prentisstown; Demián Bichir as Ben Moore and Kurt Sutter as Cillian Boyd, Todd’s adoptive fathers; Nick Jonas as Davy Prentiss, Mayor Prentiss’ son; and David Oyelowo as Aaron, a violent priest. ‘Harriet’s Cynthia Erivo portrays Hildy, the leader of the Farbranch settlement, a peaceful group opposed to Prentiss and his growing order. The film also stars Óscar Jaenada and Marc Primeau.
‘Chaos Walking’ was supposed to be the first movie in a trilogy. But at this stage, Lionsgate will be lucky if they don’t lose money on this movie alone.
‘Chaos Walking’ will finally straggle into theaters on January 22, 2021.
Source: Deadline
