Earlier this month, it was announced that a sci-fi thriller called White Mars, which sounds quite similar to The Thing and is set to star Lucy Hale of Pretty Little Liars, Scream 4, Truth or Dare?, and Fantasy Island, would begin filming on November 11th. Production is now underway, with filming taking place at Cinecittà Studios in Rome, where the movie is being shot entirely in a virtual production environment. Now, Deadline has revealed that Hale is being joined in the cast by Luke Newton, who is best known for playing the role of Colin Bridgerton on the hit Netflix series Bridgerton (his other credits include the Disney show The Lodge and Lake Placid: Legacy).

Martin Owen (The Loneliest Boy in the World), who just co-directed a survival thriller called Above the Below with Idris Elba, will be directing White Mars from a screenplay by Matt Mitchell, Vicki Sargent, and Roo Berry. Set in an isolated Aquila Research Facility, White Mars follows microbiologist Sammie (Hale) as she and Leo (Newton) fight to save their fellow crew members from a malevolent entity whose sole intention is to extinguish them all. Deadline says this will allow Hale to channel both Alien‘s Ellen Ripley and The Thing‘s RJ MacReady.

Future Artists Entertainment’s Matt Williams is producing the film with Neil Jones, as well as Steve Griffith and Steve Jelley from Singularity Entertainment. XYZ Films is co-financing with Singularity and is handling worldwide sales. This is the first feature for Singularity, “an entertainment company specializing in virtual production and streamlined processes for independent films.”

Hale had this to say about the project: “White Mars is an absolute psychological thrill ride, and I’m so excited to film this at the Cinecittà film stages in Rome. At the heart of this story is Sammie, a character I truly admire for her resilience and strength. I can’t wait to collaborate with Martin Owen, our incredible cast, and the entire team to bring this story to life.“

Matt Williams added, “I am excited for this to be the first of a multi-slate of films with the team at XYZ and Singularity. Together we will be bringing technologically advanced movie making to the independent market to compete visually with high end studio films. We are thrilled that Lucy is joining us on this action-packed sci-fi adventure as her character battles the sinister forces that threaten us all.“

Are you interested in White Mars? What do you think of Luke Newton joining Lucy Hale in the cast? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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