With most reputable science-fiction films tending to be on the big-budget Hollywood side due to extensive special effects, its always a surprise when a worthy one sneaks under the radar. This morning we’ve got news of such a case, as The Hollywood Reporter updates on a project that has already gone through shooting — twenty days of it in Los Angeles — and will likely be ready next yet.
Jack Plotnick, who does an excellent job of leading Quentin Dupieux‘s upcoming comedy Wrong, has just finished production on his directorial debut. Titled Space Station 76, this one is being described as a sci-fi dramedy set in a future that isn’t far removed from a 1970s aesthetic. Leading the cast are Liv Tyler, Matt Bomer, Patrick Wilson, Marisa Coughlan, Jerry O’Connell, Kali Rocha and newcomer Kylie Rogers.
In the project Wilson leads as the “bitter and suicidal” captain of the spaceship, while Tyler plays his new assistant and Magic Mike star Bomer fills out a supporting role as a “technician with a robotic hand who is married to a manipulative woman,” played by Coughlan. Plotnick actually first conceived his script as play, but now translated it for the screen, and you can see his quote on the film below.
“People think that the 1970s were about the discos and the free love, but in the suburbs you were left feeling, ‘Where’s the party?’ So the emotional story is what I felt in the ’70s. My parents weren’t happy together and they stuck it out for the kids. It’s an homage to them. And in one way, I think we’re like these solitary ships in space trying to connect.”
Expect a 2013 release for Space Station 76, liking on the festival circuit.