Simu Liu, Sterling K. Brown and Abraham Popoola Join Netflix Sci-Fi Thriller ‘Atlas’

Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings star Simu Liu, Sterling K. Brown and Abraham Popoola are joining Jennifer Lopez in Atlas, a sci-fi thriller for Netflix.

Brad Peyton will direct Liu as a villain in the drama about an intelligence analyst who gets stranded on a distant planet and must learn to fight inside a military-grade mech suit in order to survive.

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The screenwriter is Aron Eli Coleite, who worked off an original script by Leo Sardarian.

Atlas falls under the creative partnership between Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions and Netflix where Lopez, producing partner Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and longtime manager Benny Medina will produce a slate of films, TV series, scripted and unscripted content, with a focus on projects that support diverse female actors, writers and filmmakers.

The producer credits on Atlas are shared by Brad Peyton and Jeff Fierson for ASAP Entertainment; Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell for Safehouse Pictures; Lopez, Goldsmith-Thomas, and Medina for Nuyorican Productions; and Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter for Berlanti/Schechter Films. Mike McGrath is executive producing.

Liu is best known as Marvel superhero Shang-Chi. The Marvel Studios/Disney feature grossed $432 million at the global box office, one of the highest-grossing films of the pandemic.

The actor had already gained a following thanks to his work in the Canadian sitcom Kim’s Convenience. He has two movies in the can, including romance One True Loves, where he stars opposite Hamilton star Phillipa Soo, and Lionsgate’s canine drama Arthur the King, with Mark Wahlberg. Liu is repped by CAA and Authentic.

This is Us star Brown is also to topline Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul, which hits theaters and the Peacock streaming service on Sept 2. Brown is repped by CAA and JWS Entertainment.

Popoola will next be seen as a series regular on The Rig for Amazon and Extraordinary for Disney+. He is represented by APA, Independent and Grandview.

Deadline was the first to report.

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