'Warcraft' Director's Latest Reportedly Debuting on Netflix Next Month

Thanks to films like Moon and Source Code, director Duncan Jones has proven himself as one of the most exciting and ambitious contemporary sci-fi directors in Hollywood, a trajectory he aims to continue with Mute. The director recently teased on Twitter that the film will debut next month on Netflix, despite claiming he's not supposed to know that information.

The exchange started when Jones commended Mute's star Alexander Skårsgard for winning a Golden Globe Award for his work on the HBO series Big Little Lies, causing a fan to inquire about when we can expect to see the film hit the streaming service. Jones claimed, "Next month. Shhh! I'm not supposed to know yet!"

With the halfway point of January approaching, we would assume Mute would hit the service deeper into February as to allow a full-blown marketing push from Netflix to prepare viewers for its debut.

Set in the near-future, Leo (Skarsgård) is a bartender living in the pulsing city of Berlin. Because of a childhood accident, Leo lost the ability to speak and the only good thing in his life is his beautiful girlfriend Naadirah (Seyneb Saleh). When she vanishes without a trace, Leo's search for her takes him deep into the city's seedy underbelly. A pair of wise-cracking American surgeons (Paul Rudd and Justin Theroux) are the only recurring clue and Leo is forced to take on this teeming underworld in order to find his love.

Netflix is known for producing and purchasing a variety of different films, often focusing on low-to-mid-budget dramas and genre fare. The streaming service broke this mold last December with Bright, the Will Smith-starring fantasy film which had an estimated $90 million budget. That film was met with mostly poor reviews, ultimately earning 27% positive reviews on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.

Despite Bright's poor reception, Netflix announced it was moving ahead with a sequel.

Mute's budget is only a fraction of Bright's, yet it still marks an ambitious endeavor, bringing together big names and featuring impressive sci-fi visuals.

Jones' last film, Warcraft, had a budget of $160 million, which failed to crack the $50 million-mark domestically, but managed to earn nearly $400 million in foreign markets.

Stay tuned for details about Mute's release.

[H/T Twitter, ManMadeMoon]