Keanu Reeves' Space Romance 'Passengers' Lands at Studio Babelsberg

by Scott Roxborough

The sci-fi project, in which Rachel McAdams co-stars, will be the feature debut of Irish TV director Brian Kirk ("Game of Thrones") and will begin shooting at the German studio later this year.

Keanu Reeves' much-hyped upcoming sci-fi feature Passengers has landed at Germany's Studio Babelsberg.

The big-budget space romance – which features Reeves and Rachel McAdams as a futuristic “Adam and Eve” – is deep into pre-production. It is scheduled to begin shooting at Babelsberg, just outside Berlin, this spring.

The plot has Reeves as space colonist Jim Preston, on board a colony ship carrying 5,000 sleeping passengers to a new world, who accidentally awakens. Lonely, he wakes up Aurora (McAdams), and they fall in love. They eventually realize it is up to them to save the entire ship.

Developed by Reeves and Stephen Hamel at their Company Films, the script was written by Jon Spaihts (Prometheus). The film will be the feature directing debut of Irish TV director Brian Kirk (Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire). Passengers has already received $1.35 million (€1 million) in financing from German state subsidy agency Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg.

The Weinstein Company has picked up Passengers for a U.S. release. Exclusive Media is handling international sales. Exclusive first presented the project to buyers in Cannes last year and will be pushing sales at Berlin's European Film Market, which kicks off Thursday.