Eden: Vanessa Kirby, Sydney Sweeney cast in Ron Howard survival thriller

Oscar-winning director Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind) is planning to head into production on his latest film, a survival thriller formerly known as Origin of the Species and now going by the title Eden, at the end of November – and with just weeks to go before cameras start rolling, Howard has rounded out his lead cast with Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning) and Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria).

Kirby and Sweeney are taking over roles that were previously assigned to Alicia Vikander and Daisy Edgar-Jones. Their co-stars include Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes), Ana de Armas (Knives Out), and Daniel Bruhl (The Alienist). Howard had a solid cast put together before Vikander and Edgar-Jones dropped out, and the cast remains strong with Kirby and Sweeney as their replacements.

Deadline notes that Eden is based on an unsolved mystery that unfolded on a remote island in the Galapagos and charts the lengths humans will go in pursuit of happiness. Other reports have revealed that the screenplay by Tetris writer Noah Pink is based on “two different accounts of the same true story.” It’s said to be “a darkly comic tale of murder and survival, set around a group of eclectic characters who abandon civilization for the Galapagos. They are all searching for the answer to that ever-pressing question that plagues us all: what is the meaning of life.” Howard has been wanting to bring the story to the screen for 15 years, ever since he visited the place where the real events took place.

Howard is producing the film alongside Brian Grazer and Karen Lunder for Imagine Entertainment, AGC Studios’ Stuart Ford, and Bill Connor and Patrick Newall. AGC Studios, Library Pictures International, and Elevate Production Finance are providing the funding. The producers say Eden “explores the human condition in ways that are unexpected, absurd, humorous, sexy, but above all thrilling and deeply suspenseful.“

Filming is set to take place in Queensland, Australia, with a small unit filming in the Galapagos.

Does Eden sound interesting to you? What do you think of Vanessa Kirby and Sydney Sweeney stepping in for Alicia Vikander and Daisy Edgar-Jones? Let us know by leaving a comment below.