'Creed' Star Tessa Thompson Joins Natalie Portman And Gina Rodriguez In 'Annihilation'

Alex Garland has already worked with one brilliant actress, Alicia Vikander, in his stunning directorial debut Ex Machina. Annihilation, his follow-up to last year's surprise hit already boasts of big names like Natalie Portman and Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez. Now Garland has chosen the talented Tessa Thompson to join the stellar cast.

According to The Wrap, the Creed star is being eyed for a key role in Annihilation, which is based on the novel of the same title by Jeff VanderMeer. However, Garland has previously confirmed with io9 that the film will not be a page-for-page adaptation of the novel.

"This is not tightly adhering to the beats of the novel in the same way [as previous adaptations],"he said of the film. "It's a looser adaptation."

One change that Garland could be making is narrowing down the book's group of four (a biologist, an anthropologist, a surveyor and a psychologist) to a trio of women that will be portrayed by Thompson, Portman and Rodriguez. However, there is still a possibility that a fourth actress will be added to the cast before the film starts shooting.

But what exactly happens in the book? Annihilation follows a group of female scientists who are sent to investigate a mysterious location known only as Area X, which may or may not be home to strange alien life-forms.

Thompson has previously appeared in TV shows like Veronica Mars, Detroit 187 and 666 Park Avenue. She played Nyla, the Lady in Purple, in the Tyler Perry film For Colored Girls and portayed real-life civil rights activist Diane Nash in Selma. Her latest project is the Rocky spin-off film Creed, which also starred Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan.

Annihilation is expected to start filming in April and will possibly be released sometime in 2017.