Doug Liman has just rounded out the main cast of his adaptation of Chaos Walking by adding Rogue One: A Star Wars Story‘s Mads Mikkelsen in the villain role, per The Hollywood Reporter. The actor is in final negotiations to play the film’s antagonist, plaguing co-stars Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and Tom Holland (Spider-Man: Homecoming).
Chaos Walking is based on the YA novel of the same name by Patrick Ness where a virus has killed nearly all the women on New World and allows everyone to see into each other’s thoughts. Mikkelsen will portray the “ruthless mayor of Prentisstown who is searching for the young man he once mentored and who is a religiously minded keeper of his own secrets and is planning to expand his reach.”
Mikkelsen has played the villain in many of his roles, most notably the James Bond film Casino Royale, Marvel’s Doctor Strange and the title role in NBC’s Hannibal. Chaos Walking will begin shooting in Montreal later this summer.
From Carnegie Award-winning author Patrick Ness comes a bold cinematic experience beyond imagination. Todd Hewitt lives on the distant planet of New World—a new hope for humanity until struck by “The Noise,” a virus which inflicts immersive visions of ones’ every thought. The cacophony drives many mad until Todd makes a hidden, silent discovery: there is a girl named Viola, who may be the key to unlocking New World’s many layered secrets. Together, the two unlikely companions are forced on a white-knuckle adventure into an unexplored planet – trying to escape and hide in an environment where all thought is heard, all movement seen –as they both discover the truth about the lives they left behind and the spectacular world they’ve learned to call home.
Chaos Walking is set for release on March 1st 2019.
Originally published July 20, 2017. Updated April 15, 2018.
