Set in the not too distant future, Doug Liman's Chaos Walking picks up with Todd Hewitt (Tom Holland) when he discovers Viola (Daisy Ridley), a mysterious girl who crash lands on his planet, where all the women have disappeared and the men are afflicted by "the Noise" – a force that puts all their thoughts on display. In this dangerous landscape, Viola’s life is threatened – and as Todd vows to protect her, he will have to discover his own inner power and unlock the planet’s dark secrets.
Ahead of the movie's release in the UK (it will be available for premium rental at home on all digital platforms from tomorrow, April 2nd), we spoke to author and screenwriter Patrick Ness.
Best known for penning the Chaos Walking trilogy of novels, he also wrote the screenplay for A Monster Calls, Doctor Who spinoff series Class, and the big screen adaptation of Chaos Walking. We asked Ness about how familiar he was with Holland and Ridley's work before they were cast and whether they're close to how he pictured Todd and Viola while writing the screenplay.
"J. A. Bayona directed A Monster Calls, which I wrote, and also The Impossible which was Tom's first big movie. I knew him from there, and we cast Daisy Ridley right around the Star Wars time," Ness explained. "They're perfect in my eyes because, because they're both British and I lived in England for 20 years, so I got used to British actors and that sort of sensibility. They both have that approachable kind of charm, and I think that's the secret to their stardom. You feel like you could be their friend and feel like they could invite you into a movie. That's the great magic dust of a star. I was very, very, very happy and very lucky. Once we cast them, we both went completely stratospheric which is a great bit of luck you don't always get when you cast [Laughs]."
Chaos Walking concludes on something of an open-ended note, so could a possible sequel follow the books or head in an original direction? The latter seems most likely given the way the story veers off from the novels, but Ness understandably chose his words carefully while talking about a follow-up.
"I'm wide open. That's down to audiences as it always is and if they show up and want more and I'm happy to do more," the writer teased. "There's lots of story left to be told if people want to hear it. So, 'Go to cinemas and watch it,' he says, getting a plug in. If people want it, I'm your man!"
You can watch an excerpt from our conversation with Daisy Ridley about the possibility of taking on the title role in Spider-Woman in the player below: