Paul Rudd (Ant-Man) and Alexander Skarsgård (The Diary of a Teenage Girl) have signed on for Mute, a long-in-the-works science project from director Duncan Jones (Moon). The ambitious film- set in Berlin forty years in the future- has seen many stops along the way but may be finally starting to come together thanks to the casting as well as the addition of Lotus Entertainment, who is on board to deal with international sales of the film as well as financing of the production.

Mute tells the story of Leo Beiler (Skarsgard), a mute bartender living adrift in Berlin in a uncertain future on a mission to find his missing partner. While traversing through the shifty underworld, Leo encounters two American doctors (one to be played by Rudd) who may hold clues in solving his personal tragedy. Jones, who wrote the screenplay with Mike Johnson, commented on the casting news:

I’ve been working towards making Mute for 12 years now. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am that we’re finally going to shoot this utterly unique film. The fact that I get to make it with Alexander Skarsgård and Paul Rudd makes it all the more exciting! Mute is a film that will last. It is unlike any other science fiction being made today.

Not that Jones has entirely been twiddling his fingers. The filmmaker (son of David Bowie) behind recent science fiction puzzles Moon (2009) and Source Code (2011) just wrapped production on his highest profile film to date- Warcraft, an adaptation of the video game phenomenon. Jones directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Leavitt (Blood Diamond). Warcraft– set to open in theaters on June 10, 2016- stars Travis Fimmel (Maggie’s Plan), Paula Patton (Precious), Ben Foster (Lone Survivor), Dominic Cooper (The Devil’s Double) and Toby Kebbell (Fantastic Four) and recently unveiled its first trailer.

Outside of Mute, Rudd has his Marvel duty (the Ant-Man star has Captain America: Civil War in the can and Ant-Man and the Wasp in the pipeline), will be a part of the voice cast of the upcoming raunchy animated feature Sausage Party and co-stars in the indie drama The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving. Skarsgård, coming off his well-received turn in the indie The Diary of a Teenage Girl, will next be seen in John Michael McDonagh’s War on Everyone opposite Theo James (Divergent) and recently wrapped Tarzan, in which the True Blood heartthrob plays the king of the jungle in a reboot co-starring Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street) directed by Peter Yates (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them).

We will stay tuned to latest developments on Mute.