Filming has started in Western Australia on the new Ben C. Lucas science fiction thriller, Other Life,
The film, starring Jessica De Gouw, Thomas Cocquerel, and TJ Power, will be shot of five weeks, with Entertainment One taking care of the release in Australia and New Zealand.
This is the second feature for Lucas, whose debut, Wasted on the Young, was acquired by Paramount in Australia and nominated for an AACTA Award after a successful festival circuit including Sydney Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Pusan International Film Festival, South By Southwest Film Festival, and Torino Film Festival.
Otherlife will be produced by Jamie Hilton, Michael Pontin, Janelle Landers, Aidan O’Bryan, Marco Mehlitz,Tommaso Fiacchino, and Bo Hyde. Executive producers include Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Kendal Morgan Rhodes,Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu, and Stephen Boyle.
OtherLife is based on the popular novel, Solitaire, by Kelley Eskridge. The screenplay has been adapted and written by Eskridge along with Gregory Widen (Highlander, Backdraft), Lucas Howe and Lucas.
The film follows brilliant software engineer, Ren Amari (De Gouw) who, haunted by the accident that has left her brother in a coma, creates OtherLife: a substance that allows users to experience hours of new memories in seconds. However Ren's business partner, Sam Murphy (Power), has other grand designs for the future of this technology.
Lucas said OtherLife was an adaptation of Kelley Eskridge's novel Solitaire.
"It's a genuine privilege to be entrusted with her clever tale of memory and loss," he said.
"Our film is a contemporary science fiction, focusing on the story of a girl imprisoned by her ambition to mend her past rather than face her future. I was determined to shoot this movie in Perth and I am beyond excited to be back working with such a fantastic cast “
Australian actress De Gouw, who led NBC’s Dracula opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers and CW’s Arrow, has returned to hometown Perth for the lead role of Ren Amari.
Her recent Australian credits include Foxtel’s Deadline Gallipoli (Sam Worthington, Hugh Dancy), Cut Snake (Sullivan Stapleton, Alex Russell), and These Final Hours (Sarah Snook, Nathan Phillips).
Cocquerel will play alongside De Gouw as her love interest, Danny.
Cocquerel’s credits include Kidnapping Mr. Heineken (starring Ryan Kwanten, Sir Anthony Hopkins, and Sam Worthington), Table 19(Directed by Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass), and Blue Dog, the 2016 sequel to acclaimed Red Dog.
T.J Power also joins the production as Amari’s business partner and the film’s antagonist, Sam Murphy. Power has previously worked with Lucas on Wasted on the Young; other credits include Eat, Pray Love (Julia Roberts), the highly successfulThe Sapphires (Wayne Blair, Chris O’Dowd), Josh Lawson’s The Little Death, and cult TV series Underbelly.
Hilton said “We are absolutely thrilled to be financing and producing Ben C Lucas's sophomore film, alongside his Wasted on the Young team.
"OtherLife is a honed screenplay and Ben has once again assembled a young cast of Australia's most sought after talent,” he said.
Shooting will wrap on September 25. Post- production will be completed in Sydney through DDP Studios, VFX byMethod Studios and Toby and Pete.