Kristen Stewart, Viggo Mortensen to Star in David Cronenberg’s Sci-Fi Thriller ‘Crimes of the Future’

Kristen Stewart and Viggo Mortensen will star in David Cronenberg’s “Crimes of the Future, the story of a popular performance artist whose schtick involves growing new organs in his body.

The sci-fi thriller sounds extremely Cronenberg-ian. According to Deadline, which broke the news, the film is set in a distant future where humans have evolved beyond their “natural state and into a metamorphosis, altering their biological makeup.” In this setting, a performance artist named Saul Tenser embraces Accelerated Evolution Syndrome, sprouting new and unexpected organs in his body. Removing those organs becomes a new kind of theater, one that earns a following, as well as the attention of the government. So that should be an opportunity for a great deal of bloodletting from a director who knows his way around on-screen gore (just look at previous works such as “Dead Ringers” or “Videodrome” to remember that Cronenberg’s oeuvre is not for the weak of stomach).

“Crimes of the Future” will also mark the reunion of Cronenberg and Mortensen roughly a decade after the pair last joined forces for “A Dangerous Method.”

“I have unfinished business with the future,” Cronenberg said in a statement.

In addition to Mortensen and Stewart, the cast includes Léa Seydoux and Scott Speedman. Neon and Serendipity Point Films will back the film, with Neon handling the U.S. distribution. Principal photography will commence this summer in Greece.

Mortensen and Cronenberg previously worked together on “A History of Violence” and “Eastern Promises.” The director is getting the band back together in other ways, reuniting with production designer Carol Spier, with whom he worked on “Crash” and “Dead Ringers,” as well as “A History of Violence” composer Howard Shore.

Cronenberg is represented by WME; Mortensen is represented by Rawlins Company, UTA and GGSSC; Seydoux is represented by UTA, Agence Adequat and United Agents; Stewart is represented by WME and McKuin Frankel Whitehead.

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