After 12 Years, Warcraft Director's New Sci-Fi Film Will Finally Start Shooting

Duncan Jones, who directed this summer's big video game movie Warcraft, will start shooting his next film very soon. It's not Warcraft 2, however, but rather a lower-budget sci-fi film that he's been working on for 12 years. The film is called Mute and it's been described as a sci-fi Casablanca.

Jones, the son of the late singer David Bowie, announced on Twitter this week that the film will begin shooting next week. The mysterious film is set in Berlin, 40 years in the future. Interestingly, he also teased on Twitter that Mute is "related to Moon," his 2009 sci-fi movie starring Sam Rockwell and the voice of Kevin Spacey. You can see some art for Mute in the tweet below.

As detailed by The Hollywood Reporter, Mute tells the story of a mute bartender played by Alexander Skarsgard who "goes on a journey into the underbelly of the city and encounters a pair of American surgeons." One of the surgeons is played by Paul Rudd. Rockwell will play a small role in the film.

According to THR, Mute is the second act in a trilogy that began with Moon. The third movie in the series has not been announced. Jones also directed 2011's Source Code. He wrote the script for Mute alongside Mike Johnson (Sherlock Holmes, Pompeii).

A release date for Mute has not yet been announced.

Jones has also said he would like to return to the Warcraft franchise, as he has ideas for a trilogy. Whether or not he gets to make a second film will depend on how well the first one does. It wrapped up its box office run with more than $430 million worldwide, the bulk of which came from international markets. Earlier this month, the film was released Blu-ray/DVD, as well as digital channels.

Although Warcraft, which had a reported budget of $160 million before marketing, is projected to ultimately be a money-loser, a sequel could still happen.