Duncan Jones’ new sci-fi Mute looks pretty spectacular

“Welcome to Berlin 2052 – where dreams come true and man comes undone.” That’s the tagline for the new sci-fi thriller from Duncan Jones, he of Moon and Source Code fame.

Titled Mute, the film follows Leo (played by True Blood star Alexander Skarsgård), a mute bartender who has to dive deep into the seedy underbelly of future Berlin when his girlfriend (played by Seyneb Saleh) goes missing. The search brings him into contact with Paul Rudd as a surgeon named Cactus Jack and a shady character played by Justin Theroux in a blonde wig.

Described as “East crashing against West in a science-fiction Casablanca”, there are definite shades of Blade Runner in Mute's neon-lit future setting and nourish atmosphere. This is Jones’s fourth feature, but he wrote the initial script way back before his cult debut Moon. The trailer looks promising, and Jones will hope it fares better than his most recent feature Warcraft, which was panned by the critics and disappointed at the box office. Of course box office receipts are less of an issue here, as Mute will be debuting on Netflix on 23 February – just one of many ambitious films the streaming service have slated for release this year.

Take a look at the trailer in the player above or on YouTube, and see Jones' tweet of the original script below.

So some of you may be aware that I have previously called @Mute my “Don Quixote.” I did this, as much like Terry Gillian’s fabled film of that name, it seemed everything was against Mute ever being made. In fact, here’s an early draft... from 2003! pic.twitter.com/wW3VwfLRRR

— Duncan Jones (@ManMadeMoon) January 19, 2018