Dan Stevens (Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb) has joined the cast of writer-director Nacho Vigalondo’s (Timecrimes) new indie monster sci-fi flick, Colossal, according to Variety.
The Brightlight Pictures film will star Anne Hathaway (The Intern) as Gloria, a woman who loses her boyfriend (Stevens) and her job. She suffers a mental breakdown and finds that somehow her mind is connected to a giant lizard-like monster which has materialized over Asia and is causing catastrophic damage. It turns out she is the only person in the world who can stop the creature’s attacks.
Rounding out the cast is Jason Sudeikis (Horrible Bosses 2), Austin Stowell (Whiplash) and Tim Blake Nelson (O Brother, Where Art Thou?).
Currently filming in Vancouver, Colossal is the first of five in a multi-picture sales deal between Brightlight and Voltage Pictures, which is handling international rights.
Stevens caused a stir when he decided to leave TV’s award-winning British period drama series Downton Abbey in its third season, causing much mourning when his lead character was killed off on the show. He has since kept busy on the big screen, wrapping up four feature films last year including Shawn Levy’s Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Scott Frank’s A Walk Among the Tombstones, and the critic-hit The Guest. He will be starring in Disney’s live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast opposite Emma Watson – coming out March 2017 – and will be seen next in the indie crime thriller Criminal Activities, which bows on November 20.