EXCLUSIVE: Jack Reynor (Free Fire, Jungle Book) and Benedict Wong (Doctor Strange, The Martian) have been set to star in the second instalment of Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams, a 10-episode anthology series from Ronald D. Moore, Michael Dinner, Bryan Cranston and Sony Pictures TV.
The show, which is based on the short stories by the award-winning novelist, was commissioned by Channel 4 in the UK and picked up by Amazon for the U.S.
Reynor and Wong will star in the episode “Impossible Planet,” written and directed by The Night Manager’s David Farr, which goes into production this week in London. They’ll play two disillusioned, disenchanted and indifferent space tourism employees who take up an elderly woman’s (Geraldine Chaplin) request for a trip back to Earth, the existence of which is a long-debunked myth. She appears easily confused, plus she’s rich – so, for the right payment, what’s the harm in indulging her fantasies? However, as their journey unfolds, their scam begins to eat away at them and they ultimately find themselves dealt a bittersweet surprise.
Justin Butcher (Let Me Go), Georgina Campell (Broadchurch), Bekka Bowling (Loaded), Christopher Staines (Wolf Hall) and Malik Ibheis (Silent Witness) also feature in the episode, which is based on Dick’s short story “The Impossible Planet.”
REX/Shutterstock
Each episode of the series will be adapted by leading British and American writers including Moore (Battlestar Galactica), Michael Dinner (Justified), Tony Grisoni (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), Jack Thorne (National Treasure), Matthew Graham (Life on Mars), Farr (Hanna), Dee Rees (Mudbound) and Travis Beacham (Pacific Rim). Last month, it was announced that Timothy Spall would star in “The Commuter,” directed by Tom Harper and written by Jack Thorne.
Moore and Maril Davis of Tall Ship Productions and Dinner of Rooney McP Productions are executive producing alongside Cranston and James Degus of Moonshot Entertainment, Isa Dick Hackett, Kalen Egan and Christopher Tricarico of Electric Shepherd Productions, David Kanter and Matt De Ross of Anonymous Content, Lila Rawlings and Marigo Kehoe of Left Bank Pictures, Don Kurt and Kate DiMento in association with Sony Pictures Television.
Channel 4 will air the series in the UK later this year.
