Fans of Denis Villenueve will already be aware that the filmmaker’s next pic Story Of Your Life stars Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner. Perhaps it sounds too much like a dramedy, or there’s a conflicting rights issue, but whatever the reason, Paramount Pictures has chosen to rename the movie. It’s now called The Arrival.
On the surface, this makes a lot of sense. It matches the alien invasion storyline far better but we’re still in the dark on the broader story strokes. Adams stars as a skilled linguist hired by the military to evaluate a bunch of aliens crash-landing on Earth; do they come in peace or are they an Independence Day-style race and out for blood? Her character then begins to experience “flashbacks that unlock the greater mystery about their visit.”
Villenueve’s previous outings – Prisoners, Enemy – wrangled with deep mysteries at the heart of local communities, and man’s existential dilemmas on the whole. It sounds as if there’s the possibility of those same themes being explored in The Arrival on a much bigger scale. Having mastered the art of delivering well-plotted thrillers without a sci-fi element this upcoming movie is an exciting prospect indeed.
Written by Eric Heisserer and co-starring Forest Whitaker and Michael Stuhlbarg, The Arrival is destined to hit theaters on November 11, 2016.