BAFTA winner Naomi Ackie has officially been cast opposite Oscar winner Laura Dern and Emmy winner Benedict Cumberbatch in the upcoming sci-fi drama film Morning. Ackie is set to portray a woman connected to Frank — played by Cumberbatch — and his past. She will also be joining previously announced cast member Noah Jupe (A Quiet Place).
“I’m so excited to get to work with Justin Kurzel and this incredible cast,” Ackie said in a statement (via THR.) “The script is so beautifully written and the world building immaculate. I can’t wait to be a part of creating this piece of work!”
Ackie recently starred in her first major feature as the lead in the Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody. Besides Morning, she will next be seen in Bong Joon-ho’s next thriller Mickey 17 and Zoe Kravitz’s feature directorial debut Pussy Island.
Morning will be directed by Justin Kurzel (Nitram) from a screenplay written by Sam Steiner. Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog) will also be serving as an executive producer along with Dern. Production will be begin later this year in Germany.
The film will be produced by SunnyMarch’s Adam Ackland, Leah Clarke, Jonas Katzenstein, Maximilian Leo, Mary Aloe, and Andrea Bucko. In addition to Dern and Cumberbatch, it will also be executive produced by Jan McAdoo, Tom Ogden, DJ Jiang, Sean Fannan, Bill Way, Elliott Whitton, Sharon Paul, Jonathan Saubach, Marnie Podos, and Mark Tilghman.
“It is set in a near-future where society has a pill that does away with the need to sleep. With the added help of an artificial sun, there is no end to morning daylight, living, and work. However, as a young generation grows up deprived of the world of sleep, they consider rebelling to reclaim their dreams,” reads the synopsis.
“The ambitious and driven Cathy (Dern) was an early advocate of a sleepless world, but as she and her son Danny (Jupe) pick up the pieces of their lives following the death of her husband Frank (Cumberbatch), she finds the universe she helped to build is starting to crumble around her, whilst memories she fought so hard to repress are bleeding into her waking life. As Danny is further drawn into a subversive underworld of dreamers, Cathy must confront her nightmares and fight hard not to lose her son.”
