As he gathers the cast for his follow-up to Crimson Peak, Guillermo del Toro has been picking a typically eclectic group. He now has his eye on Michael Shannon, with the Midnight Special star in talks to join the mysterious new film.
Not much has been revealed about the new drama, which may be called The Shape Of Water, but if he signs on, Shannon will join a cast that includes Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer and Michael Stuhlbarg. Hawkins is reportedly playing a mute woman who works at a lab where an amphibious man is being held and experimented on. She takes pity on the creature and decides to help him escape, but soon comes to realise that the outside world might be even more dangerous.
It's all set against the backdrop of a 1960s America in the early grip of the Cold War.
It sounds typically intriguing, with del Toro writing the script and directing this one.
Shannon will be back on our screens in Elvis & Nixon, which lands here on June 24. He's also worked on Nocturnal Animals, Pottersville and – naturally – regular collaborator Jeff Nicols' next film, Loving.