Oscar Isaac Re-unites with Ex Machina Director to Join the All-Female Cast of Annihilation 

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The Internet’s boyfriend will play Natalie Portman’s husband.

was already shaping up to be another incredible bit of original, cerebral sci-fi long before Oscar Isaac joined the cast. Based on Jeff VanderMeer’s popular (but not

, the film already boasts an incredible cast featuring Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and star Natalie Portman. So Oscar Isaac is, really, just the frosting on this incredible cinematic cake. VaderMeer excitedly announced the news via Twitter.

trilogy—follows an all-female expedition team as they explore a mysterious location called Area X. The women are known only by their professional names (the biologist, the psychologist, the surveyor, and the anthropologist) and, as you would hope in a movie from the director who brought you

, strange and unexplainable things start happening. The biologist (Portman) is motivated to join the expedition because her husband (Isaac’s role, according to author VanderMeer) was a member of the previous team who all died mysteriously. So, yes, Isaac’s part will be small. He’s basically in the ghost-wife role made so popular by Leonardo DiCaprio movies.

Isaac as Portman’s ghost wife is just one of several intriguing reversals we can expect in

kicked up, you can expect Alex Garland to treat the material with both intelligence and intentional ambiguity. Though

is part of a trilogy, this is not exactly the beginning of a traditional franchise. Garland said back in January, “At the point I started working on

, there was only one of the three books. I knew that it was planned as a trilogy by the author, but there was only the manuscript for the first book. I really didn’t think too much about the trilogy side of it.” Though the

trilogy is one connected story, the books are disparate enough in tone that they might benefit from a

-esque anthology approach with different directors at the helm.

Either way, it’s a great time to be alive and a fan of original sci-fi. Sure,

starring David Oyelowo and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Colin Trevorrow’s

potentially starring Lupita Nyong’o, film lovers won’t have to go to that galaxy far, far away to get a dose of female-friendly, diverse, and creative genre storytelling.

and More Surprising Stories from the 2015 Box Office

Going by the strictest definition of original films—not based on an existing franchise, book, comic book, or any other property—six original titles crossed the $100 million mark domestically:

Trainwreck, Spy, The Good Dinosaur, San Andreas, Home

. Twenty-six films overall crossed that mark.

Stretch the definition of “original” a bit and you see two non-sequel/non-franchise films in the domestic Top 10:

, the heady and spectacularly well-acted sci-fi drama from first-time director Alex Garland, made $25 million at the domestic box office, more than

2015: the year the world learned to love comedy.

, performed just as well overseas as they did at home, despite the general consensus that comedy doesn’t cross international borders. Yes,

did it too, but maybe there’s something here about funny women being just as popular overseas?

, an expensive family movie anchored by George Clooney, was widely seen as a summer box-office disappointment. But by the end of its run it had made more than either

, which had the benefit of existing franchise awareness to boost them.

Of three of the year’s most high-profile (and high-budget) flops, it may be the most derided that came out on top:

, perhaps based on name recognition from the comics, made more at the domestic box office ($56 million) than

that came out on top, with $183 million—just a smidge ahead of

When you hear that international box office is where the real money is, it’s rarely as easy to see as it is with films like

, which made a paltry $89 million in the United States but a very strong $326.5 million worldwide. Or how about

, viewed stateside as a costly folly quickly forgotten after making just $43 million domestic; it grossed a healthy $202.4 million overall.

It’s been a long year, and you may be forgiven forgetting some of the films that did really, really well for themselves at the domestic box office. Like, say,

was a 2014 release, seeing as how it won Julianne Moore an Oscar earlier this year. But Box Office Mojo counts it in 2015, and by taking in $18 million at the domestic box office it has made more than this awards season’s high-profile efforts like

—two movies aimed at older audiences, featuring grand dame British actresses, and the word “gold” in the title, had nearly identical domestic grosses—$33.3 million and $33 million, respectively.

Left, © THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY; right, © Fox Searchlight Pictures/Everett Collection.

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