After over a decade of development, Duncan Jones' return to the Moon universe is finally heading our way, with the Netflix release of Mute. Set to debut next month, we finally have a trailer to this long awaited film, and it looks absolutely stunning. Get a handle on Jones' future noir for yourself, with the first look at the movie, below.
Starring Alexander Skarsgård, with co-stars such as Paul Rudd and Justin Theroux in the mix, Mute is the story of Leo (Skarsgård) a violent and speechless bartender who is looking for his missing girlfriend, Naadirah. However, in typical noir fashion, the lady seems to be hiding as many secrets as the future Berlin setting the film inhabits. Add in our protagonist's anger problems, and the fact that he's crossing paths with a pair of shady surgeons played by Rudd and Theroux, it doesn't look like it's going to be an open and shut case.
The really cool thing about the first trailer for Mute is the fact that while we're getting an eyeful of _Blade Runner-_inspired future noir, we're also getting only the most cryptic pieces of the puzzle that will unfurl through Duncan Jones's co-written narrative. While we have Leo's case down cold, as he's merely trying to find his girlfriend, we only know a little bit about Paul Rudd's Cactus Bill and Justin Theroux's Duck Teddington. Considering all we see out of them is risky vehicular behavior, some humorous parenting, and a bit of surgery that looks as black market as it can be, it doesn't look like these guys are involved in anything particularly pleasant.
It's been a long road to the screen for Mute, as Duncan Jones had intended it to be his first film after completing its initial script in 2003 with co-writer Michael Johnson. Then, Sam Rockwell auditioned for the film and really wanted to be Leo, which Jones just couldn't do. Because he really wanted to work with Rockwell, he wrote Moon solely for him, and thus the universe between the two films was born with that film taking the first position. While this was supposed to be a direct follow-up to Moon, other projects got in the way and caused this film to be shelved until Netflix stepped in.
Judging by what we've seen here, the wait for Mute has definitely been worth it; and with Netflix's own Altered Carbon coming up not too long before the film finally hits the queue, it looks like subscribers will have plenty of futuristic neo-noir thrills to tide them over for next month. Mute debuts on Netflix on February 23rd. If you're interested in seeing what else is heading to the platform in the near future, take a look at our list of Netflix films you should be keeping an eye out for. And hit the jump to see the sweet new Mute poster, because it looks incredible!
