Alejandro González Iñárritu’s First Film Since ‘Revenant’ Is Now Filming, Shot by Darius Khondji

Alejandro González Iñárritu is now in production on his first feature film since “The Revenant,” the Los Angeles Times confirms. The newspaper describes Iñárritu’s latest as “a colossal production” filming in Mexico City and tentatively titled “Limbo.” The director wrote the film’s screenplay, which explores “the political and social modernity of Mexico.” While portions of Iñárritu’s “Babel” were filmed in Mexico, “Limbo” marks the director’s first movie shot entirely in Mexico City since his 2000 breakthrough directorial feature debut “Amores Perros.”

Plot details for “Limbo” are remaining under wraps for now. The cast is led by Daniel Giménez Cacho, whose credits include Pedro Almodóvar’s “Bad Education,” Lucrecia Martel’s “Zama,” and Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s upcoming “Memoria.” Production designer Eugenio Caballero, an Oscar winner for Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth” who also worked on Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma,” is also on board for “Limbo.”

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In the most exciting bit of craft news, the Times confirms that Iñárritu is working with cinematographer Darius Khondji on the project. Khondji is best known for shooting films such as David Fincher’s “Seven,” James Gray’s “The Immigrant” and “The Lost City of Z,” and the Safdie Brothers’ “Uncut Gems.” Iñárritu exclusively worked with Rodrigo Prieto and Emmanuel Lubezki in the past, with Lubezki winning Oscars for Best Cinematography thanks to Iñárritu’s two previous features “Birdman” and “The Revenant.”

The Times report on “Limbo” includes the following: “Commanding a huge team, [Iñárritu] will complete the first week of filming in the Historic Center. Yesterday he was a one-man orchestra in a day with around a hundred extras on Isabel La Católica street. In the sequences that were filmed, Giménez Cacho walks, in apparent confusion, among people lying on the floor.”

Although plot details are not being revealed, Iñárritu and his crew were spotted in Mexico City last year performing production tests and scouting locations. The Film Stage reports: “The crew was spotted at Chapultepec Castle and in the historic center of Mexico City, with the cast dressed in ’90s outfits and the tests included cardboard cutouts of politicians Carlos Salinas de Gortari and José López Portillo. There was also an actor dressed as the famous children’s character Pajára Peggy and sets from the Mexican comedy series ‘El Chavo del Ocho.'”

While the tentatively-titled “Limbo” is the director’s first movie since “The Revenant,” he did release the virtual reality installation project “Carne y Arena” in the interim. The project won him a special Academy Award.

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