Cloud Atlas

Release: October 2012
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
Shooting Locations: Germany
Written and directed by the Wachowski Brothers and Tom Tykwer

News bytes: The film is based on the 2004 novel Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Filmmaker Tom Tykwer revealed in January 2009 his intent to adapt the novel and said he was working on a screenplay with the Wachowskis, who optioned the novel. By June 2010, Tykwer had asked actors Natalie Portman, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, James McAvoy, and Ian McKellen to star in Cloud Atlas. By April 2011, the Wachowskis joined Tykwer in co-directing the film. In the following May, with Hanks and Berry confirmed in their roles, Hugo Weaving, Ben Whishaw, Susan Sarandon, and Jim Broadbent also joined the cast. Actor Hugh Grant also joined the cast days before the start of filming.

Cloud Atlas is backed by the German production companies A Company and X Filme, and Variety reported in May 2011 that the film had a production budget of $140 million. The filmmakers secured €1.5 million ($2.15 million) from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, a German funder, as part of their plans to film at Studio Babelsberg later in 2011. The project also received financial support from Filmstiftung NRW, another German organization. The budget was updated to $100 million. Filming began on September 16, 2011. German media considers Cloud Atlas to be “the first attempt at a German blockbuster” with its budget making it the most expensive German-produced film to date. Tykwer and the Wachowskis  filmed parallel to each other using separate camera crews. Filming also took place in Scotland and Spain (Mallorca).

Plot Summary: An epic story of humankind in which the actions and consequences of our lives impact one another throughout the past, present and future as one soul is shaped from a murderer into a savior and a single act of kindness ripples out for centuries to inspire a revolution.