Anthony Hopkins has signed on to 2048, a post-apocalyptic science-fiction thriller from Timothy Woodward Jr. The project reunites the pair almost immediately after Eyes In The Trees, their upcoming sci-fi horror collaboration that is still in post-production.
2048 itself remains in pre-production. Additional casting is underway and the production is planned for Los Angeles, with no release date announced.
Humanity survived by going underground
The premise starts with a dying planet. What remains of humanity has been forced into a vast subterranean society controlled by an authoritarian organization called the Collective.
Its control reaches beyond ordinary surveillance. The population has been stripped of its memory of the world above, leaving the Collective in command of both everyday life and the accepted version of the past.
Wesley, an ordinary worker, eventually becomes involved with a hidden resistance. His search for the truth brings him to the attention of Bryant, the man Anthony Hopkins will play.
Hopkins gets the frightening job
Bryant is described as the brilliant and ruthless architect of the Collective. He keeps the regime intact through surveillance, manipulation and psychological terror rather than simply sitting at the top of an anonymous government.
That gives Hopkins a character built around certainty rather than chaos. Bryant apparently believes in the system he created, which may be considerably more unsettling than a villain who knows he is destroying everything around him.
Hopkins said the new project emerged from conversations about working with Woodward again following Eyes In The Trees. Sean Ryan's screenplay ultimately became the film they chose.
Their first movie together is not even out yet
Eyes In The Trees is still being finished. The film reworks material associated with H. G. Wells' The Island of Doctor Moreau and places Hopkins inside another science-fiction story, though one leaning more heavily toward horror.
Woodward has framed 2048 around freedom, control and one man's attempt to discover the truth. The underground setting turns those ideas into something fairly literal: an entire society exists inside an environment designed and policed by the people hiding that truth.
The rest of 2048 is still being assembled
Natalie Burn is producing through Born To Burn Films alongside Volodymyr Artemenko of Eastern Film Investment. Top Film Distribution Corporation launched worldwide sales at the 2026 TIFF market.
Hopkins remains the only publicly announced cast member so far. The actor playing Wesley has not been revealed.
There is no official release date, final poster or trailer yet. 2048 is still building its underground world, but it has already found the man who runs it.
