The long-delayed Chaos Walking movie has revealed its first poster. The sci-fi flick stars Tom Holland (Spider-Man: Far From Home, The Devil All the TIme) and Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Murder on the Orient Express) and has been on Lionsgate’s schedule for some time now. Delays such as this are often not a great sign but, be that as it may, the studio spent a lot of money on this adaptation and it needs to make its way out into the world at some point. If this poster is to be believed, that time will be soon.
Not much information can be extracted from the poster. It features the heads of Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley’s characters along with planets, forest and fire. It looks very much like a poster for a YA movie adaptation. Chaos Walking is based on the acclaimed novel The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. So it is on-brand. Beyond that, it comes with the tagline, “No one escapes the noise.” It also boasts the words “coming soon” at the bottom, though no specific release date is listed.
Last we heard, Lionsgate had the movie set for release on January 22, 2021. With what’s been going on at the box office this year, and with so many movies being delayed, that release date was, and still is, in question. Though it’s conceivable that the studio could do a limited theatrical release and/or a premium VOD offering early next year. One, to drum up some much-needed revenue and two, to finally, for better or for worse, be done with this troubled production.
This project goes back a long way. Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow, The Bourne Identity) is in the director’s chair. After production was initially finished, with the price tag said to be in the $100 million range, pricey reshoots were scheduled in mid-2018. At one point, the movie was deemed unreleasable. It has pretty much been collecting dust ever since. But earlier this year Lionsgate set the January 2021 release date. Along with Daisy Ridley ad Tom Holland, the cast also includes Mads Mikkelsen, Demian Bichir, Cynthia Erivo, Nick Jonas, Kurt Sutter, Ray McKinnon and David Oyelowo.
The book centers on a young boy named Todd who lives in a world that seemingly has no women left in it. A virus known as the Noise has seemingly wiped them from existence. Todd, who has been infected with the germ, can hear everything that men think. On the verge of becoming a man, Todd discovers a terrible secret and flees his town along with his dog. While being pursued, they run into a girl, which challenges everything Todd thinks he knows.
The Knife of Never Letting Go is the first in a best-selling trilogy of books. So, on the off chance this ends up becoming a hit after all of the mess, there is, or perhaps was, franchise potential here. Chaos Walking, for the moment, is still scheduled to arrive on January 22, 2021, from Lionsgate. Be sure to check out the new poster for yourself.
