Beverly Hills, CA (October 12, 2016) – Netflix announced that principal photography commenced this week on filmmaker Duncan Jones’s (Warcraft: The Beginning, Moon) thriller Mute in Berlin, Germany. Starring Alexander Skarsgård (Tarzan, The Diary of a Teenage Girl), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man, Anchorman) and Justin Theroux (The Leftovers, The Girl on the Train), the feature film, which will be produced by Jones’s longtime business partner Stuart Fenegan for Liberty Films, will join Netflix’s growing 2017 Original Film slate.
The much-anticipated project comes from a story Jones created twelve years ago. The film follows Leo (Skarsgård), a mute man searching for a missing person in the year 2052 in Berlin while dueling with two rogue villains played by Rudd and Theroux. Jones co-wrote the script with Michael Robert Johnson (Sherlock Holmes). Charles J.D. Schlissel serves as executive producer along with co-producers Henning Molfenter, Charlie Woebcken, Christoph Fisser of Studio Babelsberg.
“Mute is an encapsulation of everything I am fascinated by, science fiction, and unique people in trouble because of who and what they are. I’m delighted to be able to return to Berlin for the shoot, a place I lived for a period of time growing up, and I’m excited to be working with Netflix on a film that is so close to my heart,” said Duncan Jones.
Paul Rudd attends the Metropolitan Museum of Art Met Gala 2016 in New York on Monday, May 2, 2016. (Doug Peters/PA Wire/Zuma Press/TNS)
“Duncan Jones is such a dynamic directing force, and the team he has assembled in-front-of and behind-the-camera will continue to reinvigorate the science fiction genre. It will be exciting to share this film with Netflix audiences around the world next year,” said Ted Sarandos, Netflix chief content officer.
Producer Stuart Fenegan added: “Duncan handed me a version of Mute at our very first meeting together 13 years ago and I have wanted to bring it to life ever since. We just had to make Moon, Source Code and Warcraft in between, and in that time Netflix has become the place for original films. The perfect home for Mute.”
Mute joins Netflix’s robust 2017 Original Film slate which includes titles such as Brightfrom director David Ayer starring Will Smith and Joel Edgerton; War Machine from director David Michod starring Brad Pitt; Okja from director Bong Joon-ho starring Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal and Lily Collins; First They Killed My Father from director Angelina Jolie; Death Note from director Adam Wingard starring Nat Wolff, Margaret Qualley and Lakeith Stanfield; The Discovery from director Charlie McDowell starring Robert Redford, Jason Segal and Rooney Mara; Our Souls at Night from director Ritesh Batra starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda; Sandy Wexler starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Hudson; Naked starring Marlon Wayans and Regina Hall, and many more.
About Netflix
Netflix is the world’s leading Internet television network with over 83 million members in over 190 countries enjoying more than 125 million hours of TV shows and movies per day, including original series, documentaries and feature films. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on nearly any Internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.
About Liberty Films
Liberty Films was founded in 2005 by Stuart Fenegan and Duncan Jones. Their most recent film, Warcraft (June 2016), with Legendary Entertainment, Atlas Entertainment and Universal Pictures set a record in China for the biggest debut of a foreign release by earning $156 million over its first five days in the country and has gone on to earn more than $430 million worldwide. Past projects include Jones’ feature directorial debut,Moon for which Jones won a BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer. The film starred Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey. In 2011 Jones and Fenegan teamed up for the critically acclaimed Source Code starring Jake Gyllenhaal, released by Summit Entertainment.
