Ethan Hawke and Myha’la Herrold have joined the cast of Leave the World Behind, an original Netflix thriller from Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail. The pair is the newest addition to the film’s star cast, which is headlined by Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali. Leave the World Behind is based on Rumaan Alam’s 2020 novel of the same name.
As per Deadline, “Leave the World Behind is a story about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong.” Like the novel, Leave the World Behind is described as suspenseful and provocative, dealing with themes of parenthood, race and class. In the film, Ethan Hawke and Julia Roberts will play a couple who drive out to a remote cabin with their children (played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong and Charlie Evans). Mahershala Ali will play the owner of the cabin, who, along with his wife, shows up at night in a panic and brings the news of a massive blackout. Myha’la Herrold, best known for her role as Harper Stern in HBO’s Industry, will play Mahershala Ali’s daughter.
Leave the World Behind was one of the best-reviewed books of 2020 and was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction. It even ended up on Barack Obama’s summer favorites list. It came as no surprise when a film adaptation of the acclaimed novel was greenlit by Netflix months before its release, with Denzel Washington in talks to star. But he soon dropped out. Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot, Homecoming) will direct and adapt Leave the World Behind for the screen. Esmail and Julia Roberts also serve as producers through their respective banners, Esmail Corp. and Red Om Films.
Ethan Hawke Will Next Be Seen In Marvel’s Moon Knight
Ethan Hawke and his distinctive look have been making the rounds lately on social media. Earlier today, Disney released the official trailer for Moon Knight, starring Oscar Isaac as the titular superhero. The trailer also provides a glimpse of Hawke’s hotly-anticipated villain. The Gattaca star is playing a cult leader named Arthur Harrow, which many fans believe is an alias for Moon Knight’s well-known villain, Sun King.
Interestingly, Moon Knight has also collaborated with Blade in the comics, and none other than Mahershala Ali is set to play the iconic vampire hunter in the MCU. After facing off in Leave the World Behind, maybe we’ll see Hawke and Ali together in the MCU as well. That said, 2022 seems to be the year of Ethan Hawke. He is set to be a part of many long-awaited films, like Robert Egger’s The Northman, Scott Derrickson’s The Black Phone, and possibly Rian Johnson’s Knives Out 2, which doesn’t have a release date yet.
Judging by director Sam Esmail and the leading actors’ several high-profile commitments and the fast-tracked casting, we can assume that Leave the World Behind is set to begin production soon. Netflix doled out serious money for the rights to the novel, but the film has been in limbo since 2020. Hopefully, now that most of the main cast has been announced, Leave the World Behind moves forward quickly.