Hurt finds Melancholia

British actor John Hurt serves as the final addition to the cast of Lars von Trier’s latest written and directed film entitled Melancholia. He joins a cast that contains the talents of Kiefer Sutherland, Kirsten Dunst, Alexander SkarsgÃ¥rd, Stellan SkarsgÃ¥rd, Charlotte Rampling, Udo Kier and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

In regards to the plot, there is not too much that has been revealed so far. What has been gathered together of it comes from Zentropa Entertainment head Peter A. Jensen who calls it a, “beautiful film about the end of the world,” but was cagey about disclosing any plot points. He would only hint that the story hinged on a “large object from outer space approaching Earth” that affects the planet’s inhabitants, says THR.

Principal photography is set to begin sometime this summer, already locked in for a 2011 release with a premiere poised for next year’s Cannes Film Festival. Hurt is in the middle of filming his role as Old Zeus in the Greek mythological tale Immortals and will appear once more in the Harry Potter series in parts one and two of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.