Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence to Star in Big Budget Sony Space Romance
Sony just greenlit the production of an interstellar romance starring A-list stars Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence.
Fresh off last November's massive hacking disaster, Sony Pictures is hoping to mitigate its losses by casting the stars in a big-budget space love story.
Sony's pairing of two of Hollywood's hottest stars of the moment in "Passengers," a sci-fi drama romance, is part of the movie company's bid to recover their losses. Several of their 2014 big budget films, including "Fury" and "Annie," were inadvertently leaked online following a disastrous cyberattack last year.
Pratt, fresh off the success of box office blockbuster "Jurassic World," and Oscar winner Lawrence, soon to be seen in "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2," are set to star in an outer space romantic drama, which "The Imitation Game" Academy Award-nominated director Morten Tyldum has signed on to helm.
Pratt's talent fee has already climbed from $10 million to $12 million, what with his recent record breaking opening weekend, and other hits like "The Lego Movie" and "Guardians of the Galaxy" under his belt, accoring to reports.
Lawrence, who has three additional Oscar nominations plus two successful franchises – "X-Men" and "The Hunger Games" to her name, is currently getting $20 million per film against 30 percent of the movie's profits after breaking even.
Despite the hefty fees, Sony has said yes to the star-studded pairing, after their recent 2015 releases "Chappie," "Aloha," and "Mall Cop 2" were met with negative critical responses.
Tim Rothman, Sony's motion picture chairman, has approved pre-production for "Passengers" beginning September, with the movie company crossing its fingers the star power chemistry between Pratt and Lawrence, together with Tyldum's weighty directorial power, may birth another "Gravity" or "Interstellar."
"Passengers" tells the story of a man (Pratt) aboard an interstellar spaceship who wakes from cryogenic sleep 90 years before the ship reaches its destination. He decides to awaken his fellow passenger (Lawrence) to spend the remaining time with him instead of growing old and dying alone.
