The release of Edgar Wright's next film is still six months away (assuming it dosn't experience a COVID-19 delay), but the writer/director is already lining up his next project. Wright is attached to direct an adaptation of "Set My Heart to Five," which is based on the upcoming novel by Simon Stephenson.
The story is set in "an all-too human 2054," and follows a human-like robot named Jared who works as a dentist. When he experiences an emotional awakening after an introduction to '80s and '90s movies, he sets out on an unforgettable quest for connection, belonging, and possibly even true love as Jared works to convince mankind that he and his kind should be permitted to feel. This all leads to an unforgettable adventure across the West Coast of America, after Jared determines to write a film script that will change the world. Simon Stephenson is slated to pen the script.
Edgar Wright and robots yearning to love plus a love letter to films of the '80s and '90s? I'm down. Edgar Wright's next film is LAST NIGHT IN SOHO, a psychological thriller set in London which Wright says has been influenced by both Nicolas Roeg's DON'T LOOK NOW and Roman Polanski's REPULSION. The film stars Anya Taylor-Joy (THE NEW MUTANTS), Thomasin McKenzie (JOJO RABBIT), Matt Smith (The Crown), Michael Ajao (ATTACK THE BLOCK), Synnøve Karlsen (Medici), Diana Rigg (Game of Thrones), Terence Stamp (MURDER MYSTERY), and Rita Tushingham (BEING JULIA). "I realised I had never made a film about central London – specifically Soho, somewhere I’ve spent a huge amount of time in the last 25 years," Wright said in a statement when the project was announced. "With Hot Fuzz and Shaun Of The Dead you make movies about places you’ve lived in. This movie is about the London I’ve existed in."
A synopsis of "Set My Heart to Five" via Amazon:
Jared works as a dentist in small-town Michigan. His life is totally normal, except for one thing. He is a bot engineered with human DNA to look and act like a real person. One day at a screening of a classic movie, Jared feels a strange sensation around his eyes. Everyone knows that bots can’t feel emotions, but as the theater lights come on, Jared is almost certain he’s crying. Confused, he decides to watch more old movies to figure out what’s happening. The process leads to an emotional awakening that upends his existence. Jared, it turns out, can feel. Overcome with a full range of emotions, and facing an imminent reset, Jared heads west, determined to forge real connections. He yearns to find his mother, the programmer who created him. He dreams of writing a screenplay that will change the world. Along the way, he might even fall in love. But a bot with feelings is a dangerous proposition, and Jared’s new life could come to an end before it truly begins. Delectably entertaining and deceptively moving, Set My Heart to Five is a profound exploration of what makes us human and a love letter to outsiders everywhere.
Edgar Wright's LAST NIGHT IN SOHO is slated for a September 25, 2020 release.