The Wachowskis' and Tom Tykwer's adaptation of Cloud Atlas may be the most ambitious film we see this year, and now it's confirmed to have the running time to prove it. Thompson On Hollywood reports that the adaptation of David Mitchell's novel screened for buyers at Cannes, and the run time of the finished film was two hours and 44 minutes-- over the two and a half hours specified in the contract, but studio head Jeff Robinov approved it anyway.
And though the film is screening for international buyers at Cannes, it's already got a North American release date from Warners-- you can expect to see it in theaters on December 6, a release date than unbelievably has no other wide releases scheduled (Focus's Hyde Park on Hudson, scheduled for December 7, is likely to have a limited release). Cloud Atlas was financed through advance foreign sales, shot for $101 million after Warner Bros. refused its $170 million price tag. In a pretty canny move, WB then bought the film's North American rights for about $20 million, saving themselves a heavy investment but positioning themselves to reap serious rewards.
Cloud Atlas, published in 2004, follows six stories that take places in various times in history, starting with an American notary on a ship traveling from the Pacific ISlands to San Francisco in the 19th century and ending far in the future, where modern society has collapsed and Hawaii is one of the last bastions of humanity. The stories each interrupt each other but also link up in mysterious and lovely ways, creating a wide-ranging portrait of time and humanity and all the odd ways we connect to each other. It's a lot more interesting and less sappy than that sounds, I promise.
With Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Susan Sarandon, Jim Sturgess, Ben Whishaw, Keith David and Jim Broadbent all on board in major roles, Cloud Atlas surely has the starpower to get noticed-- the next question is whether the Wachowskis and Tykwer have pulled it off. Everyone at Cannes seems to be staying mum for now, so we may have to wait all the way until December 6 to find out for sure.
