Kate McKinnon is ready to go cosmic.
The former “Saturday Night Live” cast member is set to star in Searchlight’s “In the Blink of an Eye,” a sci-fi epic from “WALL•E” director Andrew Stanton, TheWrap has confirmed.
The script, which finished in the top 25 of the 2016 Black List, was written by Colby Day. Back then, the project was described as exploring “the entire history of the universe and our species through three interwoven storylines that question the very nature of life, love, mortality, where we’ve been, and where we’re going; the past, present, and future of the human race.” Other projects that were in that list includes Liz Hannah’s “The Post,” made by Steven Spielberg; “O2,” made as “Oxygen” by French filmmaker Alexandre Aja for Netflix; and “Free Guy,” made with Ryan Reynolds.
While details are being kept under wraps, the original script followed characters in three different time periods – a family of Neanderthals., a woman in modern day and a genetically augmented character in the distant future. From there, we jump further and further into the future. Yes, this is enough to bring to mind both Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”” and similarly structured sci-fi movies released much later like “The Fountain” and “Cloud Atlas.”
McKinnon has been nominated for 10 Emmys and won two for her work on “Saturday Night Live,” where she served as one of the longest running cast members. On the film side of things, she has appeared in movies like “Sisters” (with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler), the all-female “Ghostbusters,” Danny Boyle’s “Yesterday,” “Bombshell” and “The Bubble.” She previously teamed with Stanton for 2016’s blockbuster sequel “Finding Dory.”
Stanton, of course, a Pixar stalwart (he was the second animator they ever hired) and the director of “WALL•E,” “Finding Nemo,” “Finding Dory” and the live-action “John Carter.” He has also directed episodes of “Stranger Things,” “Better Call Saul,” “For All Mankind” and most recently co-wrote two episodes of Disney+ “Star Wars” series “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”
Jared Ian Goldman is producing and Day will be an executive producer. SVP of production Taylor Friedman and Creative Executive Apolline Berty are overseeing for Searchlight Pictures.
Deadline was the first to report the news.
