Cillian Murphy The Latest To Join Niccol's 'I.m'mortal'

I don't know why Cillian Murphy's not a bigger deal. He's memorable in everything and he usually bring something to a role that you don't expect. And even though he's been in some big films, he's not on a first-name basis with audiences. Does he not want a franchise of his own or is it just the breaks? He'll get another attempt - again in a supporting role - to break through with mainstream audiences, according to Heat Vision. Murphy is in talks to join Amanda Seyfried and Justin Timberlake in Andrew Niccol's I'm.mortal. Niccol definitely knows his sci-fi, and there's likely no more bankable young star at the moment than Seyfried, who has turned a few movies with very low expectations into surprising hits. Timberlake has not found the key to the box office, but he's generally pretty good. So there's a lot of upside to this project, if you ask me. But what's it about?

"The story is set in the not-too-distant future, when the aging gene has been switched off. To avoid overpopulation, time has become the currency and the way people pay for luxuries and necessities. The rich can live forever, and the rest try to negotiate for their immortality. When a poor man named Will (Timberlake, who still is negotiating his deal) is suddenly given a fortune, he becomes the target of a murder investigation and kidnaps an heiress (Seyfried) while on the run. Murphy will play an officer from an organization known as Timekeepers and described as "precise as the time he keeps."

Niccol hopes to begin shooting by the end of September, which I'm guessing must not conflict with Seyfried's Red Riding Hood. If it hits that mark, Fox will probably try to work this one for next fall.

Comments

[Jeanette]

Colin I agree - I don't understand why Cillian Murphy isn't a bigger deal either. He's been fabulous in what he's done. He almost had a franchise as The Scarecrow in the Batman series but I think got overshadowed by Heath Ledger's Joker - you barely saw him in The Dark Knight even though he was great as Dr Crane in Batman Begins. I have a theory that it's because he hasn't built up his body. It seems to be working for Ryan Reynolds for example. Maybe Inception will give him greater recognition - I see he's ranked #4 on the imdb charts today. Let's hope so. I'm a big fan.