Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Ashley Greene, Thomas Kretschmann and Praya Lundberg have joined the cast of Anthony Hopkins’ Eyes in the Trees. Palisades Park Pictures begins global sales of the sci-fi thriller ahead of the Toronto International Film Festival.
The film is a modern reimagining of H.G. Wells' novel The Island of Dr. Moreau, and stars two-time Academy Award winner Hopkins (“The Father,” “The Silence of the Lambs”). The cast also includes Golden Globe winner Rhys Meyers (“Michael Collins,” “Match Point”), Green (“The Twilight Saga,” “Bombshell”), Kretschmann (“Indiana Jones and the Tablet of Destiny,” “King Kong”) and Lundberg (“White Lotus,” Season 3).
The film follows a video journalist and a film crew who embark on a journey into a remote jungle, only to find their journey becomes a battle for survival not only for themselves, but for the entire human race. Vince Henway (Myers) and his ex-girlfriend-turned-ex-girlfriend Channing Arno (Green) lead their crew to the heart of Monkey Island off the coast of Thailand. Known as “Death Island” by the locals, the island is rife with rumors of forgotten government medical experiments and scientific genetic manipulation led by Dr. Addis (Hopkins). What they find on the island is beyond their wildest expectations, the product of nightmares. Their search for answers soon turns into a battle for survival as they try to thwart Dr. Addis’s plan to “restore humanity to normal,” which will kill off the majority of the Earth’s human population, as the film’s introduction states.
This sci-fi thriller will be directed by Emmy Award winner Timothy Woodward Jr. (“Studio City,” “Til Death Do Us Part”) and written by P. Harrison Smith (“Where the Scary Things Are”), Mike Manning (“Son of the South”) and Dominic Burns (“Airborne”).
The film will be 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 (“Tripped Up”) of Artman Cooper Productions. Mike Manning will also serve as producer.
BGG Capital's Landon B. Gorman, Joe Simpson, Jonathan Bruce and Tamara Perkemo are set to executive produce the film. Jonathan J. Cooper and Jeremy O'Keefe will co-produce.
“To have the opportunity to work so closely with the legendary Sir Anthony Hopkins and the rest of this incredible cast is a true honor,” director Woodward Jr. added. “It has been incredibly inspiring, and I am truly grateful for the experience. I look forward to sharing this film with audiences, knowing that it is being shaped by incredible talent in front of and behind the camera.”
“Eyes in the Trees is a bold, intriguing, genre-defining film with a fantastic cast, including the incomparable Anthony Hopkins,” said Simon Williams, Managing Partner at Ashland Hill. “We look forward to introducing a global audience to this new, terrifying and creative take on the genre through Timothy’s unique vision.”
Palisades Park Pictures’ slate of films to screen at TIFF also includes “The Magic Faraway Tree,” starring Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Nicola Coughlan, Jessica Gunning and Jennifer Saunders; “Grendel,” from the Jim Henson Company, starring 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 the action-adventure “Fast Charlie,” directed by Phillip Noyce and starring Pierce Brosnan and James Caan in his final screen appearance.
Production on “Eyes in the Trees” is set to begin in Thailand later this year.
