‘The Modern Ocean’ Adds Keanu Reeves, Anne Hathaway, Daniel Radcliffe and More to Stellar Cast

It’s happening. It’s actually, really, honest-to-goodness happening. The next film from visionary Primer and Upstream Color director Shane Carruth isn’t just happening — it’s lined up a seriously impressive roster of talent: Anne Hathaway, Keanu Reeves, Daniel Radcliffe and more have joined the lineup for the elusive and enigmatic filmmaker’s latest, meaning we won’t have to wait too much longer for a new Carruth project.

We waited nine years between Primer and Upstream Color, but we won’t be waiting nearly as long for The Modern Ocean, the ambitious new film from filmmaker Shane Carruth. THR reports that Reeves, Hathaway and Radcliffe have signed on along with Chloe Moretz, Asa Butterfield, Tom Holland, Jeff Goldblum and Beasts of No Nation’s young breakout star Abraham Attah. That’s such a mind-spinning roster of actors, not to mention that Carruth himself will also co-star.

The report reveals that The Modern Ocean is based on Carruth’s 200-page script, which includes numerous photos and — seriously — diagrams, though if you’re familiar with the eccentric brilliance of Carruth, that’s hardly surprising intel.

The Modern Ocean centers on the brutal competition over trading routes, culminating in an epic battle between cargo ships and their traders, with FilmNation adding, “This epic tale, fraught with danger and intrigue, takes us from the ancient trading houses of Algeria to the darkest depths of the ocean floor.” The producers also added that the film is “enormously inventive, but grounded in arcane reality” and “will draw audiences in to a secretive world filled with mysterious technologies and bitter rivalries.”

Carruth has been talking up this project for a couple of years, but it was only when he recently signed with WME that he was able to get the ball properly rolling. He famously independently produced his first two films, which he wrote, directed and starred in, maintaining total control over production to complete his singular vision. The Modern Ocean marks his first big budget studio movie.

If you haven’t seen Primer or Upstream Color, they are both available on Netflix Instant and are must-see pieces of incredibly original and gripping filmmaking. Get on it.