EXCLUSIVE: Martin Freeman (The Hobbit) and Iain Armitage (Young Sheldon) have signed on to star in The Adam Trials, a psychological thriller with a sci-fi twist from writer-director Ben Ketai (2023’s River Wild).
The film tells the story of two parents who will do anything to save the life of their terminally ill son, employing experimental nanotechnology that starts to show signs of success but at a dark cost.
Compelling Pictures, the production company of Denis O’Sullivan (Bohemian Rhapsody) and Jeff Kalligheri (I Wanna Dance with Somebody), will produce the picture and co-finance. Freeman will exec produce alongside Noah Rosen, Dennis Casali, Matthew Gallagher, and Steven Garcia. Casting for the female lead is underway, the aim being to shoot later this year.
“This movie has been a dream of mine for quite some time now, as has the opportunity to work with Martin again,” says Ketai, who worked with the actor on the Crackle series StartUp. “Now with Iain’s talent in the mix, I am counting the seconds until we start rolling.”
O’Sullivan of Compelling Pictures added, “As lifelong fans of thought-provoking, grounded sci-fi, it’s thrilling to be part of bringing this pressure-cooker of a movie to the screen with the enormously talented Ben Ketai. Audiences will be on the edge of their seats watching the cat-and-mouse game that unfolds between Martin and Iain as the story hurtles towards a stunning final twist.”
A BAFTA, Emmy, and SAG Award winner, Freeman has most recently been seen starring in series like BBC One’s The Responder and FX’s comedy Breeders, along with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, erotic thriller Miller’s Girl opposite Jenna Ortega, and horror thriller Queen of Bones. Upcoming, he has Netflix’s Agatha Christie series The Seven Dials Mystery and the dramedy Let’s Love, among other projects. He recently launched his own production company, One Trick Poné, alongside Rachel Benaissa, and is repped by Modern Collective, CAA, and Felker Toczek Suddleson.
Best known for starring in CBS’ Big Bang Theory prequel Young Sheldon, which finished its seven-season run last year, Armitage’s other credits include Big Little Lies, Destin Daniel Cretton’s The Glass Castle, and PAW Patrol: The Movie. He is repped by WME and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
Most recently, Ketai co-wrote and directed a reimagining of white-water rafting thriller The River Wild, starring Leighton Meester, Taran Killam and Adam Brody. As a director, his other credits include the horror thriller Beneath, along with series like StartUp and Chosen for Crackle, and a series adaptation of Microsoft video game Quantum Break. He is repped by Writ Large, CAA, and Felker Toczek Suddleson.
Previously co-financing and producing the Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody for TriStar, Compelling Pictures is in post on The Collaboration, an upcoming film examining the friendship between artists Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, who are respectively portrayed by Paul Bettany and Jeremy Pope. Kwame Kwei-Armah directed the adaptation of the play by Anthony McCarten. Currently, the company is gearing up for the crime thriller Mission Hill, directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah, as well as the high concept horror film The Blur directed by Joe Miale. Compelling is repped by Gersh and Evan Krauss of Eisner Law.
