Hugo Weaving and Ben Whishaw join CLOUD ATLAS

Hugo Weaving and Ben Whishaw have signed on for major roles in Cloud Atlas, the feature adaptation of David Mitchell's novel from Andy and Lana Wachowski and Tom Tykwer. Halle Berry also confirmed her role in the film today as well, according to THR. Tom Hanks also stars in the big-budget film being released by Warner Bros. in North America. The project is being solde at Cannes this week by Focus International.

Weaving worked with the Wachowskis’ on the Matrix trilogy and V for Vendetta. Twyker and Whishaw worked together on Perfume: The Story of a Murderer in 2006. Filming is slated to begin in the fall with directing duties being shared by The Wachowski siblings and Tykwer. The film is being produced by Grant Hill and Stefan Arndt along with the Wachowskis under their new Five Drops label. Philip Lee will serve as executive producer. Rights have already been sold for Russia and Eastern Europe by Berlin-based A Company, who recently joined the project as a co-producer.

Here’s the synopsis of the book:

The story presents six narratives that evoke an array of genres, from Melvillean high-seas drama to California noir and dystopian fantasy. There is a naive clerk on a nineteenth-century Polynesian voyage: and aspiring composer who insinuates himself to the home of a syphilitic genius: a journalist investigating a nuclear plant: a publisher with a dangerous best-seller on his hands: and a cloned human being created for slave labour. These five stories are bisected and arranged around a sixth, the oral history of a post-apocalyptic island, which forms the heart of the story.

This epic project now has an epic cast! I really like Hanks and Weaving and think that under Wachowski's and Twyker's direction this film will be awesome. Berry has not really had a great role for a bit, in my opinion. 

What are your thoughts on this news?