Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Ashley Greene, Thomas Kretschmann and Praya Lundberg have joined the cast of Anthony Hopkins-starring “Eyes in the Trees.” Palisades Park Pictures is launching global sales of the sci-fi thriller ahead of the Toronto International Film Festival.
The film, a modern retelling of HG Wells’ novel ‘The Island of Doctor Moreau’, stars two-time Academy Award winner Hopkins (‘The Father’, ‘Silence of the Lambs’). The cast also includes Golden Globe winner Rhys Meyers (“Michael Collins,” “Match Point”), Greene (“The Twilight Saga,” “Bombshell”), Kretschmann (“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” “King Kong” ) and Lundberg (“White Lotus”, season 3).
“Eyes in the Trees” follows “a video journalist and his film crew who journey to a remote forest, only to discover that their excursion turns into a fight for survival, not just for themselves, but for all of humanity. Vince Henway (Meyers) and his former protégé turned ex Channing Arneau (Greene) lead their crew into the heart of Monkey Ko off the coast of Thailand. The island is also known to locals as ‘The Island of Death’ and there are rumors of forgotten government medical experiments and scientific genetic engineering led by Dr. Addis (Hopkins). What they find on the island exceeds their wildest expectations, a product of nightmares. Their search for answers soon turns into a fight for survival as they plot Dr. Trying to thwart Addis to ‘push back’ humanity, killing the majority of the human population on Earth,” reads the film’s logline.
The sci-fi thriller is directed by Emmy Award winner Timothy Woodward Jr. (“Studio City,” “Til Death Do Us Part”) and written by B. Harrison Smith (“Where the Scary Things Are”), Mike Manning (“Son of the South”) and Dominic Burns (“Airborne”).
The film is produced by Daemon Hillin (“Which Brings Me to You”) of Hillin Entertainment, Simon Williams (“The Magic Faraway Tree”) of Ashland Hill and Artisha Mann-Cooper (“Trip Up”) of Artman Cooper Productions. Mike Manning will also serve as producer.
Landon B. Gorman of BGG Capital, Joe Simpson, Jonathan Bross and Tamara Birkemoe will executive produce. Jonathan J. Cooper and Jeremy O’Keefe will co-produce.
Director Woodward Jr. added: “It’s a real honor to be working closely with the legendary Sir Anthony Hopkins and the rest of this incredible cast. It was very inspiring and I am truly grateful for the experience. I look forward to sharing this film with audiences knowing it is shaped by such remarkable talents in front of and behind the camera.”
“’Eyes in the Trees’ is a bold, twisted, next-generation film with a brilliant cast, including the incomparable Anthony Hopkins,” said Simon Williams, Managing Partner of Ashland Hill. “We look forward to introducing global audiences to this chilling and creative new performance, seen from Timothy’s unique vision.”
Palisades Park Pictures’ TIFF slate also includes “The Magic Faraway Tree” starring Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Nicola Coughlan, Jessica Gunning and Jennifer Saunders, The Jim Henson Company’s live-action monster story “Grendel” starring stars Jeff Bridges, Dave Bautista, Bryan Cranston, Thomasin McKenzie, Sam Elliott and T Bone Burnett, “That’s Amore!” starring John Travolta, Katherine Heigl and Christopher Walken and Philip Noyce’s action-adventure “Fast Charlie” starring Pierce Brosnan, and James Caan in his final on-screen appearance.
Production for “Eyes In The Trees” will begin in Thailand later this year.
