David Cronenberg to Return to Sci-Fi with ‘Crimes of The Future’, Reuniting with Viggo Mortensen

David Cronenberg is coming back to a genre that he helped redefine back in the day.

The Canadian filmmaker is coming back to the world of original science-fiction for the first time in over two decades with ‘Crimes of The Future’ and he will be re-teaming with a notable collaborator to bring it to life. Viggo Mortensen, who has done three films with Cronenberg, will star in the film which also has a cast that includes Lea Seydoux, Kristen Stewart, Scott Speedman and Don McKellar. Neon will distribute the film which marks Cronenberg’s first sci-fi picture since ‘eXistenZ’ in 1999.

Crimes of The Future is an ambitious look into the not-too-distant-future where humans must adapt to their synthetic surroundings that alter their biological makeup. Some embrace it while others try to outlaw it. The film’s lead character Saul Tenser is a performance artist who embraces this ‘Accelerated Evolution Syndrome’ and uses this technique to pull off his most shocking performance yet.

Judging from this complicated and disturbing premise, it really harkens back to the body horror genre that Cronenberg mastered in the 80’s with films like ‘Videodrome’, ‘The Fly’ and ‘Dead Ringers’ which were all smart horror films that combined gruesome visuals with thought provoking storytelling. Since “eXistenZ”, the filmmaker has focused more on character driven thrillers and dramas with Mortensen being a big component to many of them. The Oscar nominated actor has appeared in three of Cronenberg’s during this period which include ‘A History of Violence’, ‘Eastern Promises’ ( which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor) and ‘A Dangerous Method’ so seeing these two re-team again and in a sci-fi horror film no less is nothing short of exciting. Seydoux and Stewart also make great additions to the cast.

It’s still early to say if this will be a return to form for Cronenberg after a few disappointing films but with a great cast and a unique storyline, much potential lies ahead. I expect we will be hearing more about this project over the next little while as shooting begins sometime in summer in Athens, Greece.

What do you think about ‘Crimes of The Future’? Are you excited about Cronenberg returning to body horror? Or is it too squeamish for you? Give us your thoughts in the comments below.