Following the grueling production of The Revenant, Alejandro González Iñárritu has stayed relatively quiet in the five-plus years since, just helming the VR film Carne y Arena. It was then revealed as the pandemic was beginning that the Oscar-winning Mexican director had been prepping a shoot in his native country for a new project, though the crisis of course delayed those plans.

Now, he’s returning to shooting as LA Times reports production has begun in Mexico City on his new film, tentatively titled Limbo. (Not to be confused the recent TIFF premiere Limbo and the recent Berlinale premiere Limbo.) While cinematographer Bradford Young (Arrival, Solo: A Star Wars Story) was originally attached the project, it looks like scheduling didn’t work out and now Darius Khondji (Uncut Gems, Okja, The Lost City of Z, Se7en) is behind the camera.

Led by Zama star Daniel Giménez Cacho (who will also appear in Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s next film Memoria), the first set photo has also appeared, featuring extras sprawled across the pavement. Also, check out the crew member repping the Roma shirt, which is fitting as that film’s production designer, Eugenio Caballero, is on board for this project.

Described as “a kind of fable” that will explore “the political and social modernity of Mexico,” additional details are sparse but it is said to be an epic production lasting around five months and could potentially be ready by this year.

Last year, the crew was spotted at Chapultepec Castle and in the historic center of Mexico City, with the cast dressed in ’90s outfits and the tests included cardboard cutouts of politicians Carlos Salinas de Gortari and José López Portillo. There was also an actor dressed as the famous children’s character Pajára Peggy and sets from the Mexican comedy series El Chavo del Ocho. As we await more details, from these first hints of a Mexico City-set story around the time of the director’s formative years, it certainly sounds like Iñárritu is taking a note from Alfonso Cuarón and reaching into his past, but we’ll learn more soon.

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