13/08/2013 - Robot thriller underway in the UK and Norway, starring Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac and Alicia Vikander

After enjoying years of success as a writer (Sunshine [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: AndrewMacdonald
interview: Danny Boyle
film profile], Never Let Me Go [+see also:
trailer
interview: Domhnall Gleeson
film profile]) and as a producer (Dredd, 28 Weeks Later [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), Alex Garland (photo) has finally debuted as a director with Ex Machina. Principal photography is underway at Pinewood Studios and will continue on location in Norway.

Ex Machina, also written by Garland, is a psychological thriller where a 24-year-old coder at the world’s largest internet company wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to the reclusive CEO of the company.  But when the coder arrives at the remote location, he finds that he will have to participate in a strange and fascinating experiment in which he must interact with the world’s first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl. 

Domhnall Gleeson (About Time [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile]), Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis,) and Alicia Vikander (A Royal Affair [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mikkel Boe Følsgaard
interview: Nikolaj Arcel
film profile]) play the lead roles. The film is fully financed by Universal Pictures International and Film4 with Universal distributing worldwide.  DNA’s Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich are producing, with Scott Rudin and Eli Bush and Film4’s Tessa Ross as executive producers.

The budget is estimated to be €11 million.