Rich Flu: Mary Elizabeth Winstead replaces Rosamund Pike in virus thriller

Last year, we heard that Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) would be starring in The Platform director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s virus thriller Rich Flu, and would be joined in the cast by Daniel Brühl (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) and Macaulay Culkin (American Horror Story). Pike, Brühl, and Culkin have since all had to depart the project due to scheduling issues – but Deadline reports that Rich Flu is now filming, with Mary Elizabeth Winstead (10 Cloverfield Lane) taking over the role that once belonged to Pike.

In the cast with Winstead are Rafe Spall (The Big Short), Lorraine Bracco (The Sopranos), Dixie Egerickx (The Secret Garden), Timothy Spall (Mr. Turner), Jonah Hauer-King (The Little Mermaid), Cesar Domboy (Outlander), Dayana Esebe (LA Star), and Richard Sammel (3 Days To Kill).

Spencer and Jackie director Pablo Larraín is producing Rich Flu with Juan de Dios Larraín, through their Fabula banner. Gaztelu-Urrutia is also producing the film, alongside Basque Films’ Carlos Juárez, Albert Soler of Mamma Team, and Nostromo Pictures’ Adrián Guerra and Núria Valls.

Scripted by Gaztelu-Urrutia, Sam Steiner, and The Platform writers Pedro Rivero and David Desola, Rich Flu begins with a strange disease killing off some of the richest and most influential people on the planet starting with the billionaires, then the multi-millionaires and so on progressively. Now it threatens to strike anyone with any sort of fortune, and no one knows where it might end. With the whole planet panicking and humankind’s very way of life headed for collapse, people attempt to flood the market with assets the world no longer wants. The thriller explores how far one would go to save their skin when the wealth that made the world go round suddenly becomes its most dangerous commodity.

Filming is taking place in Barcelona, Fuerteventura, and Senegal.

Are you interested in Rich Flu? What do you think of Mary Elizabeth Winstead replacing Rosamund Pike, and of the supporting cast that has been assembled around her? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below. I enjoyed The Platform, so I’m really looking forward to Rich Flu.