Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke and Oscar-nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor are set to star in The Pod Generation, a new sci-fi romance movie directed by Sophie Barthes. It will begin shooting in March 2022 and the script will be shared at the upcoming American Film Market. Barthes previously directed Madame Bovary starring Mia Wasikowska and Cold Souls starring Paul Giamatti.
In a plot that could be an episode of Black Mirror, The Pod Generation is set in a near future dominated by innovative new technologies. The ‘pod’ in question allows pregnancy to be more equally shared between couples, because it is a detachable artificial womb. This is a world in which AI is part of everyday life and the ‘natural’ way of doing things is becoming a distant memory. Rachel (Clarke) works for Pegasus, the company developing this new tech and Aly (Ejiofor) is a botanist who prefers the old ways – so they clash over Aly’s doubts about using fake body parts.
As reported in Variety, Barthes is excited to work with her two leads, stating that; “Emilia’s versatility, her disarming sense of humor and capacity to navigate complex emotions are a perfect match to Chiwetel’s charisma and extraordinary screen presence.”
Fionnuala Jamison, managing director of MK2 Films thinks that a female writer-director can bring something fresh to the sci-fi genre and that Barthes brings “a distinctly feminine twist…[to a story]…that really haunts as much as it entertains.”
As well as the prestigious cast, The Pod Generation has also assembled a talented team behind the camera. It will be shot by Andrij Parekh, the cinematographer behind HBO’s Succession and Scenes From a Marriage. The production design will be by Shane Valentino, whose previous work includes Nocturnal Animals and Batman Begins. The score will be by Evgueni and Sacha Galperine, the composers behind HBO’s The Undoing and Scenes From a Marriage.
This is not Emilia Clarke’s first foray into the world of the rom-com, with her starring in Me Before You with Sam Claflin and Last Christmas with Henry Golding. Chiwetel Ejiofor is a multi-award wining actor, including winning a BAFTA for 12 Years a Slave, which he was also Oscar-nominated for. He was nominated for an Emmy for Lead Actor in the Dancing on the Edge mini-series.