It was nearly a year ago when we got the first inkling of Benh Zeitlin‘s next feature, following the release of his Sundance break-out and Oscar-nominated Beasts of the Southern Wild. There were rumors he’d bring back his stars Quvenzhané Wallis and Dwight Henry, who have gone on to take roles in films such as 12 Years a Slave and Annie. While those have yet to be confirmed, we heard it’s the story of “a hidden ecosystem where the aging process is out of whack and people can age quickly or very slowly.”
Speaking with New York Times, we’ve now got some new details on the project and it adds a bit of what we knew before, but a few new angles. Zeitlin says, “The new film is about a young girl who gets kidnapped onto a hidden ecosystem where a tribal war is raging over a form of pollen that breaks the relationship between aging and time.”
He reveals a new character in the project, saying, “It follows a friendship-love story-adventure of her and a joyous, reckless, pleasure-mongering young boy as they swirl in and out of youth and as the ecosystem around them spirals toward destruction.” Sounds fairly crazy and something that thankfully continues his knack for fantastical elements. Don’t expect any firm release date soon though, as he adds, “We’re working on it all day every day, but as all psychotic adventures go, you know where your destination is but not how long it’s going to take to get there.”
What do you think of this early plot synopsis? Were you a Beasts fan?