URSA MAJOR: Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Xochitl Gomez to Star in Sci-Fi Thriller

The sci-fi thrills keep coming, with news that Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Xochitl Gomez have been cast as the leads in Ursa Major, a new sci-fi thriller.

According to the official synopsis, the film "is set on an earth-like planet, where a mother (Winstead) and daughter (Gomez) fight for survival while hiding from a group of relentless hunters.

"With the added threat of an imminent and deadly storm, Natalie - now a teenager - begins questioning her mother, Charlie, about who they really are, how they got here, and what they need to do to survive."

I'm a longtime admirer of Winstead, who has built a career based on memorable roles in mainstream productions as well as daring and fascinating indie films. She always seems to get to the heart of the characters she is portraying, and that makes her compelling to watch.

Gomez recently played a supporting role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, a movie that was, frankly, kind of a mess, as I wrote elsewhere, but lit up, at least for a while, when she showed up as the feisty, time-traveling America Chavez. Casting her opposite Winstead sounds like a brilliant stroke; they should make a combustible mother and daughter.

Jonathan and Josh Baker (Kin) are directing, based on a script by Patrick Somerville and Colleen O'Brien and Katie French. Per the official verbiage, Lost City's James Hoppe and Jack Byrnes are on board as executive producers, in association with executive producers XYZ Films, who are handling worldwide sales at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

(Full disclosure: Screen Anarchy is owned by XYZ Films.)