The Little Mermaid breakout star Jonah Hauer-King has been tapped for the leading role in the upcoming 1970s-set coming-of-age drama The Eden Express, based on Mark Vonnegut’s memoir of the same name.
Hauer-King is set to play Mark Vonnegut, who is the son of sci-fi author Kurt Vonnegut whose best known for his acclaimed novels such as Slaughterhouse-Five, and The Sirens of Titan. Hauer-King most recently starred in Peacock’s Holocaust miniseries The Tattooist of Auschwitz, where he played the role of Lale Sokolov. He will next be seen in several movies, including Rich Flu with Mary Elizabeth Winstead, William Tell with Claes Bang, and The Threesome with Zoey Deutch.
According to Variety, the film will follow “Mark’s 1970 quest, alongside his girlfriend Virge and a group of friends. to escape Nixon’s America to find a better way of life on a British Columbia commune,” reads the synopsis. “It’s a place they hope will be an ‘Eden’ on Earth. However, as this new utopia comes into focus, Mark starts to hear voices and see visions that give him ominous instructions, marking the start of his journey with bipolar disorder.”
The Eden Express will be written and directed by Daniel Cockburn. The film is produced by Daniel Bekerman, Christina Wood, and Chris Yurkovich, along with Scythia Films and Good Question Media. It is executive produced by Jordan Hart and Stephen Fry. So far, Hauer-King is the only confirmed cast member, but additional casting is currently underway.