Rachel McAdams - Rachel's Role in Passengers, Discussion/Spoilers #1

amanda s. · 10-29-2013, 10:57 PM

Rachel's Role in Passengers, Discussion/Spoilers #1

Information
Reese Witherspoon was originally signed on to star in this film alongside Keanu Reeves, but according to Deadline, she had to drop out due to shooting taking place in Germany and/or a scheduling conflict, which made room for Rachel to replace her. Production is expected to start in late February/early March of 2014. Deadline also reports that the script was developed by Reeves and Stephen Hamel at Company Films. The Weinsten Company bought the film at Cannes in 2013, and it will be directed by Game of Thrones's Brian Kirk, with a script penned by Prometheus's Jon Spaihts.

Synopsis: A spacecraft is transporting thousands of people to a distant colony planet that has a malfunction in one of its sleep chambers. As a result, a single passenger (Reeves) is awakened 90 years before anyone else. Faced with the prospect of growing old and dying alone, he eventually decides to wake up a second passenger (McAdams).

Timeline
• May 2010: Gabriele Muccino is set to direct the film. (Source)
• April 2013: Game of Thrones director Brian Kirk becomes attached as a director for the film, replacing previous contenders. Wayfare Entertainment comes on board to help finance it. (Source)
• May 2013: The Weinstein Company wins the bidding war for the film in Cannes with Keanu Reeves and Reese Witherspoon set to star. (Source)
• 25 October 2013: Rachel McAdams is reported as "in talks" for the role of the second passenger on board the ship after Reese Witherspoon drops out. (Source)
• 27 October 2013: In a press junket for About Time, Rachel confirms her involvement in the project. She says the project is "in the works." (Source)

Quotes from Cast & Crew
• "It's a very cool script, and hopefully that's gonna work out!"
- Rachel McAdams on being in talks for Passengers (Hitfix.com)

Triva/Fun Facts
• Reese Witherspoon was set to star alongside Keanu Reeves but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. This is the second film in a short time where Rachel has replaced Reese-- the other is the Untitled Cameron Crowe Project, shot in Autumn of 2013.

External links
IMDB | Screenwriter Jon Spaihts's Official Twitter Page

Jord-Temp · 10-30-2013, 12:19 AM

Amazing OP, Amanda!!! thanks so much!!

Oh, I'm sooo excited

winterbird · 10-30-2013, 01:47 AM

TFTNT Amanda, the OP is A-MA-ZING!!

I really hope this one will work out, I hope it's not bad luck or something that she already talked about it

New quote from Reeves:

Quote:

Another project that looked like it would never come to fruition was "Passengers," a sci-fi romance that just the other day locked in Rachel McAdams for the female lead. " 'Passengers' was a script that was developed through the production company I have. And we developed the story with a writer named Jon Spaihts. And the first draft is from 2007 or '08. So it's kind of our baby," Reeves said. "And the story is timeless and human; the idea of love, the idea of not being alone, the idea of the human condition. And the story, really for me is very pointed to that: a guy waking up in a space ship alone and he's going to die alone."

Reeves thoughtfully went on to describe the thematic and dramatic concerns of the movie: "What's he going to do amongst five thousand passengers? How do we live? We know that we can't be alone. But can you forgive him? So it's a kind of Adam and Eve … There are a lot of thematic threads that I find really exciting."
Interview: Keanu Reeves Talks Plot & Status Of 'Bill & Ted 3,' What Happened To Nicolas Winding Refn's 'Jekyll' & More | The Playlist

Rikayla · 10-30-2013, 06:41 AM

not here for keanu reeves still, but excited for the weinstein company and the fierce cannes bidding

amanda s. · 10-30-2013, 10:29 AM

Thanks, guys! Lindsey, I kinda just swiped your template to put it together.

Let me know if I need to add or remove anything from it!

And that's a great quote too, Lindsey. When I was building this post last night I was starting to see that this project has been in development for a LONG time. I can't believe it hasn't been made yet! But I'm so excited that Rachel's attached and I hope it works out too, so much.

Also, agreeing with you again, Wendy. Don't care much about Keanu. Maybe the fact that he's been mulling it over for years will contribute to a better performance though. We'll see!

winterbird · 10-30-2013, 10:47 AM

It looks great

But feel free to add your own things

Just noticed that screenplay writer Jon Spaihts RT'ed more Rachel related tweets:

amanda s. · 10-30-2013, 10:49 AM

I noticed that last night too! Like every mention of it he saw on Twitter he RT'ed. I feel like if it wasn't happening so many people wouldn't be talking about it, you know? I know it isn't CONFIRMED confirmed but it seems pretty dang serious.

nick1982 · 10-30-2013, 02:05 PM

Yeah, if it wasn't a done deal, you wouldn't think he would be drawing people's attention to it. My theory is that they've offered the role to Rachel, she has accepted, and now they're just in the process of locking in the finer details (e.g. Filming dates, additional casting). I would imagine that a film with a big budget and large set pieces would require a little more preparation than a smaller-scale movie, so there's probably a lot of things that still need to be ironed out prior to the actual filming. And remember, Reese was attached to this role for months before she allegedly had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts and the change in location, so I guess anything can happen.

I think that unless something happens to significantly impact the current filming plans, Rachel will be in this movie.

winterbird · 10-30-2013, 03:51 PM

Well said Nick, couldn't have said it better myself. I don't want to get my hopes up, like you said still a lot can happen, but I'm really exited about this. Also Reese dropped reportedly out because production was moved to Germany (and was set in Montreal first). I think she was unable/didn't want to relocate her kids to Germany for a few months and I assume Rachel is now in talks she is willing to shoot in Germany/Berlin.

I noticed a lot of AFM announcement in the last few days on Deadline and THR and apparently AFM stands for American Film Market. According to the official site it runs from November 6 - 13. From the AFM site:

Quote:

The business of independent motion picture production and distribution - a truly collaborative process - reaches its peak every year at the American Film Market. Over 8,000 industry leaders converge in Santa Monica for eight days of deal-making, screenings, seminars, networking and parties. Participants come from over 70 countries and include acquisition and development executives, agents, attorneys, directors, distributors, festival directors, financiers, film commissioners, producers, writers, the world’s press all those who provide services to the motion picture industry.
About the AFM | American Film Market

I assume the movie is trying to get (more?) funding at AFM, and maybe then they will officially announce Rachel's involvement. Same thing happened with AMWM, her involvement was reported before the Cannes market and confirmed during it. But then again, like you said they might wait closer to the production to confirm it.

nick1982 · 10-30-2013, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lindsey- (View Post)

I assume the movie is trying to get (more?) funding at AFM, and maybe then they will officially announce Rachel's involvement. Same thing happened with AMWM, her involvement was reported before the Cannes market and confirmed during it. But then again, like you said they might wait closer to the production to confirm it.

First Showing's announcement of Rachel's involvement suggested that Passengers would be shopped at AFM:

The Weinstein Company is behind the film which will be shopped around at the American Film Market, and McAdams is currently ironing out her deal to take the role from Witherspoon whose schedule didn't work with the production timetable.

I'm assuming this will primarily be for the international rights, which often involves upfront deals to help fund the project during production. I guess we'll know more over the next week or so.

'Neil' · 10-30-2013, 06:49 PM

TFTNT Amanda.Your intro is awesome.

I'm reading the script finally and halfway through it.The Aurora character seems to be perfectly suited for Rachel.Though I'm not satisfed with the choice of Keanu as Jim still I can see a different aspect of this.Until now in the most of Keanu's movies the actress or the supporting actor stole the show.So I think there is a real possibility that this might just turn out to be Rachel's movie.

Rikayla · 10-30-2013, 09:43 PM

OOOOH Nick, your posts are all great, and just make me even more excited for this project! I honestly love this part of film projects more than the actual filming hahah, producing/financing/distributing a movie is super interesting to me, and I'd love to get into it one day

winterbird · 10-31-2013, 01:53 AM

Thanks for the info Nick

Collider has a new interview with Reeves in which he also talks a little bit about "Passengers" around the 10:55 mark. The interview took place during TIFF and Reeves mentions they are 'trying' to get the movie made, and that they've got a director and that they were in 'soft prep'. I kind if think Reese might have dropped out of the project then, he doesn't mention her (or maybe he just forgets to mention her).

Jord-Temp · 10-31-2013, 01:04 PM

Thanks so much for all the updates guys

Full confirmation she has boarded this project?:

Quote:

Status: Pre-Production
Release date: TBD
Country of origin:
Language: English
Running time: TBD
Director: Brian Kirk
Writer: Jon Spaihts
Genre: Science Fiction , Romance
Key Cast: Keanu Reeves , Rachel McAdams
International Sales: Exclusive Media

Source

Also on their facebook page:

Quote:

Rachel McAdams joins Keanu Reeves in #Passengers

Source

amanda s. · 10-31-2013, 02:49 PM

Thanks for all the information, everyone! I love how much it really looks like this is going to be a done deal moving forward. WANT.


Fan Forum > Archived Celebrities > Rachel McAdams > Rachel's Role in Passengers, Discussion/Spoilers #1