Astronauts watch a global catastrophe from space in first trailer for Cannes sci-fi showcase 'Rubikon'

A new, high-concept sci-fi flick is building buzz at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival as part of the fest's showcase — and now we have our first look beyond the Rubikon ourselves.

The space-set film, titled Rubikon, follows a team of astronauts stationed on a space station. Things are going fairly well, until they witness a mysterious cloud envelope virtually the entire planet. Basically, they’re watching a planet-wide catastrophe play out from above. From there, the crew faces the question of simply staying put on the self-sustained space station, or heading back to Earth to search for answers.

The film is directed by Magdalena Lauritsch and written by Jessica Lind. The production design, which has some 2001: A Space Odyssey aesthetic going on, was handled by Johannes Mücke. It stars Julia Franz Richter, (George Blagden, and Mark Ivanir. The project is currently in post-production, but was selected for a buyer’s showcase at Cannes. 

Check out the first trailer here:

“It was a huge challenge and at the same time pure joy to produce Rubikon,” Loredana Rehekampff, with producer Samsara Filmproduktion, told Variety. “Rubikon is a sophisticated science-fiction film with an amazing production value and most importantly with a captivating story.”

Things are obviously still early on with this one so there’s no release date, but with the film included with the buyer’s showcase at Cannes, there are decent odds it’s on the fast track toward landing a distribution deal. Could it end up at a streaming service like Netflix, or eventually headed to theaters for a traditional deal? The jury’s still out, but wherever it ends up, we can’t wait to see more from this one.