25 oct 2021 Exclusive New Project – THE POD GENERATION

mk2 Films is delighted to announce its exclusive new project: THE POD GENERATION. Read more in VARIETY here.

Emmy^® nominee Emilia Clarke and Academy Award^® nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor star in a sharply comic love story about big tech becoming the route to parenthood

In a not-so-distant future, AI is all the rage and nature is becoming a distant memory. Tech giant Pegasus offers couples the opportunity to share pregnancy on a more equal footing via detachable artificial wombs, or pods. But at what cost?

Rachel and Alvy, a New York couple, are ready to take their relationship to the next level and start a family. Rachel’s work gives them a chance to fast-track to the top of the Pegasus waiting list. But Alvy, a botanist and devoted purist has doubts. Nonetheless, his love for Rachel prompts him to take a leap of faith. And so begins the wild ride to parenthood in this brave new world with all its twists, turns, and bumps along the way.

THE POD GENERATION forces us to confront our fascination with and skepticism towards progress and technology through Rachel and Alvy’s intimate, wickedly funny and haunting journey.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled”, says Sophie Barthes, Director. “Working with Emilia and Chiwetel as a couple on screen is a dream come true. Emilia’s versatility, her disarming sense of humor and capacity to navigate complex emotions are a perfect match to Chiwetel’s charisma and extraordinary screen presence. The idea of the artificial womb as either doom or liberation for women is inherently comedic material!”

“We were captivated by Sophie Barthes’ THE POD GENERATION and can’t wait to launch sales at AFM. It’s a near-future story with a distinctly feminine twist that really haunts as much as it entertains all the while raising ethical questions about where technology is taking us, like once the womb has been commodified what’s next?” says Fionnuala Jamison, Director of mk2 Films.

THE POD GENERATION will be Sophie Barthes’ third feature following “Cold Souls” and “Madame Bovary” which played at Sundance, Toronto, Deauville and Telluride. It is being produced by Yann Zenou for QUAD (“The Death of Stalin”, “The Intouchables”) and Geneviève Lemal for SCOPE (“Annette”, “Blue is the Warmest Colour”, “Disobedience”). Andrij Parekh serves as DoP. His credits include “Succession” (HBO, Emmy Award Winner for Best Director), “Scenes from a Marriage” (HBO), “Blue Valentine” and “Watchmen” (HBO).

Emilia Clarke, who is also an Executive Producer on the project, is a four-time Emmy nominee for her portrayal of Daenerys Targaryen on HBO’s global smash “Game of Thrones”. She is also a multiple Critics Choice Award nominee and was the 2018 recipient of the BAFTA Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year. Clarke is an AMPAS member and was also noted as one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People. Her film credits include the holiday film “Last Christmas”, “Me Before You”, “Terminator Genisys”, “Solo: A Star Wars Story”, and she will co-star in Václav Marhoul’s Joseph McCarthy biopic alongside Michael Shannon and Dane DeHaan. She is repped by CAA, Range Media Partners, Emptage Hallett, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller & Gellman.

Chiwetel Ejiofor won the BAFTA for Best Actor for his performance in Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave”. He is a five-time Golden Globes nominee and has been twice nominated for Emmy Awards. Amongst Chiwetel Ejiofor’s notable credits are “Endgame”, “The Martian”, voicing Scar in “The Lion King”, “Doctor Strange”, “The Old Guard” (Netflix) and his directorial debut feature “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” (Netflix) which premiered in Sundance. He is repped by CAA, Markham Froggatt & Irwin, and Hirsch Wallerstein.

Sophie Barthes is repped by CAA, Taylor-Wessing and Paul Nelson at Mosaic who is an executive producer on the project.

mk2 Films handles international rights with CAA Media Finance co-representing domestic. THE POD GENERATION starts shooting in March 2022.

mk2 Films will be sharing the script and a sizzle reel at the AFM.