OSCAR-WINNING director Ron Howard is set to start production at the end of this month on a survival thriller titled Eden, previously known as Origin of Species.

Originally, the film was expected to star Alicia Vikander, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Ana de Armas, Jude Law, and Daniel Brühl. However, it appears that the retitling of the film comes with a couple of changes to the cast.

Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney (pic below) and Oscar nominee Vanessa Kirby will replace Edgar-Jones and Vikander, respectively.

In addition to the talented cast, renowned composer Hans Zimmer has joined the project. This collaboration marks the 10th time these two Oscar winners have worked together, with their partnership dating back to Backdraft in 1991.

Eden is based on an unsolved mystery that occurred on a remote island in the Galapagos. The film explores the lengths to which humans will go in pursuit of happiness.

Howard has been passionate about telling this story for 15 years, ever since he first visited the Galapagos Islands where the real-life events unfolded. Just before the pandemic, he teamed up with writer Noah Pink (known for Tetris) to bring this story to life.

The script for the film was developed by Imagine based on pages of Howard’s story that he had been working on for many years.

The movie delves into the complexities of the human experience in ways that are surprising, absurd, humorous, alluring and, most importantly, filled with excitement and profound suspense.

The movie will be filmed in Queensland, Australia, with a smaller unit capturing scenes in the Galapagos. Howard’s previous film, the suspenseful Thai cave rescue drama Thirteen Lives, was also shot in Queensland.