Woody Harrelson, Ruben Ostlund reuniting for new film

Woody Harrelson will reunite with Triangle of Sadness director Ruben Ostlund for his next film, The Entertainment System is Down.

The Oscar nominee announced the news during the Triangle of Sadness press conference in Cannes on Monday, the morning after the film’s world premiere in competition. “Ruben is a maestro, so my interest was to work with Ruben (…). I will be in his next film
whether he likes it or not,” Harrelson said. He added that the script was “phenomenal.” Östlund has been developing the project for the past few years, collecting anecdotes from people around the world, but the actual script is still in its early stages, he said diversity last week.

In “Triangle of Sadness,” Harrelson plays a rabid Marxist who captains a cruise for the super-rich. The yacht sinks, stranding survivors, including a famous model couple, on an island. As Östlund described it in the press, the off-field comedy is ultimately about “the end of civilisation”. Ostlund said Harrelson will play a similar role in his next film. “[Woody]is going to play a captain on an airplane,” revealed the helmsman.

Harrelson said working with Östlund has been a “revitalizing experience, one of the greatest experiences of my life”.

Harrelson said he also loved his character, who carries the “message of the movie,” but he’s not an alter ego. “My character is a Marxist. But I’m not a Marxist, I’m an anarchist. So in that sense we are different.”

“The Entertainment System is Down” will once again be a comedy with a sociological twist. The feature project takes place aboard a long-haul airliner and is inspired by Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel Brave New World.

“In a world controlled by advanced entertainment systems, people sit on a long flight with no screens to look at. I’m curious to see if people will start talking to each other or what will happen,” Östlund said previously diversity.

Östlund added that the film would be like an experimental lab, studying human behavior through so-called “air-rages” among passengers, which he said are “more common when economy passengers board via business class.” .

“Triangle of Sadness” is one of the top rated films of this year’s competition. It is sold by The Coproduction Office. 30West and WME represent the US rights.