A film Halle Berry is in that I can say I'm actually REALLY looking forward to seeing! It seems like it's been quite awhile since I've said those words.

Of course I'm referring to the $100+ million big screen adaptation of David Mitchell's labyrinthine tome Cloud Atlas, which is being written and co-directed by Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run), and The Wachowskis, with Halle Berry,Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving, Keith David,Susan Sarandon, Ben Whishaw, Jim Broadbent, David Gyasi and several others in a variety of roles.

The story, as already detailed previously, "weaves history, science, suspense, humor and pathos through six separate but loosely related narratives"… and… "Each of the narratives is set in a different time and place"… "from Melvillean high-seas drama to California noir and dystopian fantasy"… "each is written in a different prose style, each is broken off mid-action and brought to conclusion in the second half of the book"…

We haven't had much to report on this in a few months, and with the Cannes Film Festival/Market in full swing, I figured we'd hear something soon enough.

Lots of chatter around the project including word from indieWIRE's own Anne Thompson, who's at Cannes, reporting that the film screened for international buyers, and has a total running time of 2 hours and 44 minutes which Warner Bros has approved.

Anne also reveals the WB plans to release the film Stateside on December 6th, likely in order to make it eligible for Oscar consideration. Well, well. I guess we shouldn't be surprised by that, if that is indeed the reason.

And as SlashFilm notes, a test screening of the film happened in London earlier this week, with reactions from those present being positive, with one person calling it "surprisingly good."

There is apparently another test screening of the film tonight, in Pasadena, CA. I wonder if any of our readers will be there for that. If so, email me ([email protected])!

So we've got a nearly-3-hour mind fuck of a movie – assuming it's true to the novel. Nice! 🙂

It's one of the few films I can say I'm really looking forward to seeing this year.

Also worth noting is that the core group of starring actors will play multiple roles across all the different storylines, periods and locations, which might make the film even more of a challenge to watch, but a good challenge.

Above and below we've got our first look at the film, via images I posted previous, featuring Halle Berry and Keith David on set in Glasgow, Scotland a few months ago.

Halle Berry is in very good company here, and, as I've already said a number of times, most recently after posting the trailer for her shark thriller, Dark Tide, she needs a hit badly! This could very well be it, even though she won't necessarily be the main/sole attraction.