I would have given anything to have seen Rob’s face when he hears/heard that one of his teenage crushes was going to costar with him in a film.  Oh to have been a fly on the wall.  How bloody fantastic is this film cast so far … Patricia Arquette.  Love her.   And we uncovered plot details last week, which seem to be in line with what Screen Daily reports:

“EXCLUSIVE: Oscar-winner joins sci-fi alongside Robert Pattinson, Mia Goth.

Oscar-winner Patricia Arquette (Boyhood) has joined Robert Pattinson (Twilight) and Mia Goth (The Survivalist) in the cast of Claire Denis’ anticipated untitled sci-fi, written by UK novelist Zadie Smith (White Teeth) and Smith’s writer husband Nick Laird.

Denis’ English-language debut, due to shoot next year, is understood to follow a group of skilled criminals who, in a bid to escape their long sentences or capital punishment, accept a likely-fatal government space mission to find alternative energy sources.

The project, which ScreenDaily first reported in June, marks an intriguing change of direction for the White Material and Beau Travail writer-director.

The story is based on an original idea by Denis and her regular writing partner Jean-Pol Fargeau, and is due to go into production early next year.

Producers are Oliver Dungey (Miss Julie), Laurence Clerc and Olivier Thery Lapiney from Paris-based Alcatraz Films, and Claudia Steffen and Christoph Friedel of Pandora Filmproduktion in Cologne.

Alcatraz and Pandora produced Denis’ most recent feature, Bastards, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013.

Denis regular Wild Bunch is handling international sales while Des Hamilton is casting the project.

Collaborators on the film also include Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, known for his Tate Modern installation The Weather Project; astrophysicist Aurélien Barrau, known for his work on black holes and cosmology; and Stuart Staples of indie band Tindersticks, who previously provided music for Denis titles including White Material and 35 Rhums.”

From The Playlist:

“Oscar winner Patricia Arquette and “Nymphomaniac” star Mia Goth have joined the movie, and now we have an inkling of the plot. According to Screen Daily and Deadline, the story will revolve around a group of skilled criminals who trade in facing jail time and capital punishment for agreeing to participate in a likely fatal government space mission where they will be tasked to find alternate energy sources, and will be part of human reproduction experiments. Holy bonkers. I can’t wait to see what Denis and co. do with that premise.

Production on “High Life” begins in early 2016, and I’d wager a Cannes bow in 2017 is probably likely. It’ll be a long wait….”

The Film Stage (another Cannes mention)

“The arrival of a new Claire Denis film is enough itself to incur anticipation, but when it seems to be an unexpected, outside-the-box project, we’re even more intrigued. Such is the case for her follow-up Bastards, a science-fiction drama now revealed to be titled High Life. Written by Zadie Smith and Nick Laird, Robert Pattinson is set to lead as an astronaut and now we have our first substantial plot details and additional cast members. [My emphasis]

ScreenDaily reports Patricia Arquette, who won an Oscar last year for Boyhood, and Mia Goth(Nymphomaniac) have joined the cast. Denis English-language debut follows “a group of skilled criminals who, in a bid to escape their long sentences or capital punishment, accept a likely-fatal government space mission to find alternative energy sources.” It sounds like a fascinating change-up for the director and we can’t wait to see the results.

Additional collaborators include artist Olafur Eliasson and astrophysicist Aurélien Barrau, as well as Tindersticks‘ Stuart Staples, who has had many previous collaborations with Denis. Set to kick off production early next year, hopefully it’ll be finished in time for Cannes 2017.”