There are some shakeups on Ursa Major, an upcoming sci-fi thriller from the creator of HBO Max’s Station Eleven.
While Mary Elizabeth Winstead was initially on board along with Xochitl Gomez (Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness) to star in the production, Deadline is reporting that Jessica Biel has stepped in to take over for the Fargo and Ahsoka actor, who apparently dropped out because of scheduling conflicts.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Set on an earth-like planet, where a mother (Biel) and daughter (Gomez) fight for survival while hiding from a group of relentless hunters. With the added threat of an imminent and deadly storm, Natalie—now a teenager—begins questioning her mother, Charlie, about who they really are, how they got here, and what they need to do to survive.
Biel’s previous credits include playing Candy Montgomery in Hulu’s series Candy (pictured above in makeup and costuming that will very likely be very different than what she dons for Ursa Major), a show that chronicles the true crime tale where Biel’s character turns out to be an axe murderer. She also starred in the anthology series, The Sinner, which explores how normal people commit violent crimes.
Casting change aside, the feature still looks intriguing. Patrick Somerville, who not only ran the Station Eleven television series but also wrote on The Leftovers, co-created the Netflix mini-series Maniac, and created the sci-fi series Made For Love on HBO Max, has a solid track record, as do the directors, Jonathan and Josh Baker (Kin). It will be a different film, however, with Biel in one of the starring roles instead of Winstead.
Whether it will be a worthy watch is something we’ll have to wait a while to find out, however, as there’s no official release date yet for the movie.
