Rooney Mara and Nicholas Hoult to star in sci-fi romance The Discovery

Rooney Mara and Nicholas Hoult are teaming up to play lovers in upcoming sci-fi romance The Discovery, production company Endgame Entertainment has announced. Filming is set to begin in Rhode Island, New England, sometime in January 2016.

Set in a world where the afterlife has been scientifically proven, the film sees Hoult play the son of the man who made the huge discovery of Heaven and Hell, while Mara appears as the woman he falls in love with. Very little is known about the plot so far, or how the afterlife will tie in with the pair's on-screen romance, but it has been revealed that Mara's character's "life is tinged by a tragic past". Presumably the idea that the couple will live on, potentially together, after they die will play a part in the storyline, however what that entails remains unclear.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Charlie McDowell is set to direct the supernatural film after co-writing the script with the help of Justin Lader. The film-making duo previously worked together on 2014 movie The One I Love, starring Mark Duplass and Elisabeth Moss. Alex Orlovsky (Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond The Pines) is set to produce, alongside James D Stern (Looper, Side Effects, An Education). Considering the film-makers' experience with melancholic romances and Lader's treatment of Mara's character in 2013's Side Effects, it is safe to say this project will likely turn out anything but light-hearted.

Sci-fi romance certainly seems to be a popular choice when it comes to Hollywood releases in 2016. The Hunger Games' Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt (Jurassic World) will be seen in a similar sounding film called Passengers.

Oscar-nominated Mara can currently be seen in Pan, a retelling of JM Barrie's classic story Peter Pan, and her next picture, the critically acclaimed romance Carol also starring Cate Blanchett, is scheduled for release in November. Hoult's Kill Your Friends will be in cinemas on 6 November in the UK and his latest instalment in the X-Men franchise, Apocalpse, will reach British big screens on 19 May 2016.

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