PRIMER Director Shane Carruth Nabs Incredible Cast For His First Studio Film, THE MODERN OCEAN

Shane Carruth's movies aren't like the typical Hollywood fare that gets churned through the system. With Primer and Upstream Color (both on Netflix now), he made the kind of specific, intelligent, head-scratching, and very personal films that scare studios away, so it's sort of surprising that he's moving away from his indie roots for The Modern Ocean, his first studio movie. Not surprising, however, is the fact that such a talented filmmaker has secured a hell of a talented cast for his new project.

THR reports that Anne Hathaway, Keanu Reeves, Daniel Radcliffe, Chloe Grace Moretz, Tom Holland, Asa Butterfield, Jeff Goldblum and young Beasts of No Nation star Abraham Attah have all signed on for the movie, which is being described as an "adventure drama" with a 200-page script that's full of pictures and diagrams — which, knowing the intricacies of Carruth's previous films, makes complete sense.

The storyline revolves around vengeance and the fierce competition for valuable shipping routes and priceless materials that converge in a spectacular battle on the rolling decks of behemoth cargo ships.

"This epic tale, fraught with danger and intrigue, takes us from the ancient trading houses of Algeria to the darkest depths of the ocean floor," said FilmNation.

Carruth has such a singular voice that I'd have seen his next project just out of sheer curiosity, so adding a stellar cast on top of that is just a bonus as far as I'm concerned. It's clear that the actors are fans of his dream-like style, and I'm intrigued to see how Carruth handles the pressure of a movie that's much larger in scale than anything he's done before.