Find out which ‘True Blood’ actor and Marvel movie star will lead Duncan Jones’ new sci-fi film

After I saw “Moon” when it was released in 2009, I immediately wanted to a) watch “Moon” again and b) find out what else director Duncan Jones was working on.

The answer to b) was a sci-fi thriller called “Mute,” and fans of the captivating, moody, thought-provoking “Moon” have been eagerly awaiting that project ever since the summer of 2009.

Now things are finally moving forward for “Mute”: News broke late Tuesday that the film will star Paul Rudd, fresh off Marvel”s “Ant-Man,” and “True Blood” alum Alexander Skarsgard.

“Mute” – which Jones has been working on for 12 years now – will be about “a woman whose disappearance causes a mystery for her partner, a mute bartender. When she disappears, he has to go up against the city's gangsters,” as producer Stuart Fenegan described in 2009.

Here”s how today”s press release sums up the film:

“Berlin. Forty years from today. A roiling city of immigrants, where East crashes against West in a science-fiction Casablanca. Leo Beiler (Skarsgard), a mute bartender, has one reason and one reason only for living here, and she”s disappeared. But when Leo”s search takes him deeper into the city”s underbelly, an odd pair of American surgeons (led by Rudd) seem to be the only recurring clue, and Leo can”t tell if they can help, or who he should fear most.”

And here”s some concept art that hit the web also back in 2009:

Jones pulled an Oscar-worthy performance (two Oscar-worthy performances, actually) out of Sam Rockwell for “Moon.” With “Mute,” he”s again giving his lead actor a compelling challenge – this time, it appears, Skarsgard will have to carry the film without the luxury of speech. Let”s hope Jones can direct some acting gold again here.

The film will feature a couple reunions: Rockwell and composer Clint Mansell (“Moon,” “The Fountain”) are also on board.

In the time we”ve been left waiting for “Mute,” Jones made 2011 time loop thriller “Source Code” and “Warcraft,” set for a June 2016 release. Thank goodness “Warcraft” isn”t catapulting Jones permanently into the big studio blockbuster world of remakes and adaptations. I”ve been eager to see his original story about a mute bartender in a futuristic urban landscape for a long time.

Jones – who is writing the “Mute” script with Mike Johnson (“Sherlock Holmes”) – said in the press release, “‘Mute” is is a film that will last.” Let the hype for a timeless sci-fi film begin.

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