It’s not every film that can boast Terry Gilliam as one of its executive producers. But Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski’s feature directorial debut The White Circus can and does, and it also now features Chloe Moretz and Asa Butterfield as its leads.
The White Circus sees the Lavis and Szczerbowski – known for their stop-motion work including M****adame Tutli-Putli, which scored an Oscar nomination and can be seen at the bottom of the page – switching to live action for a dark fantasy tale.
Moretz and Butterfield, who made an appealing double act in Hugo, will star in the adventure, which unspools on a snowy New Year’s Eve. A young pilot on his first mission crashes his plane into a war-torn town.
While looking for help, he falls for a beautiful cabaret singer and, with the help of a talking circus bear, encourages the locals to throw off the shackles of a despot. You know, that old chestnut.
Andrea Riseborough and The White Ribbo****n’s Christian Friedel are also aboard.
“Chris and Maciek are the worthy heirs of Gilliam, Jim Henson and Tim Burton, yet their work boasts an ever bigger crossover appeal while being smart and innovative,” explained producer Gregoire Melin. The White Circus is set to shoot in Germany next February.
Moretz will next show up as Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass 2, which hits our screens on August 14. She’s also the lead in Carrie, due November 29. Butterfield, meanwhile, is the main man in Ender’s Game, and that will arrive on October 25.