Ex Machina Director's Next Film Release Date Announced

Alex Garland's next film stars Natalie Portman, Oscar Isaac, and more.

By Jonathon Dornbush

Annihilation, directed by Ex Machina's Alex Garland, will be released in theaters early next year.

IGN can confirm that Annihilation the adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer's novel of the same name, will hit theaters on February 23, 2018. The film joins a fellow Paramount Pictures release — the next Cloverfield film, previously known as God Particle, which the studio pushed from its packed October 27 release, will also have a February debut.

Annihilation stars Natalie Portman as a biologist who is sent into a mysterious place known as Area X as part of an expedition to explore the strange environment. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, and Tessa Thompson play those joining her on the expedition, while Oscar Isaac, who starred in Garland's Ex Machina, plays the Biologist's husband.

Annihilation pulls from the first book in VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, originally released in 2014. The series followed the titular Southern Reach agency and its investigations into the uninhabited Area X.

The Biologist's 12th expedition group followed in the footsteps of previous outings, many of which were mired by strange deaths, disappearances, and more

For more on Garland's work, read IGN's review of Ex Machina, which won the award for Best Visual Effects at the Oscars.

Jonathon Dornbush read the entire Southern Reach trilogy in a week and he really hopes you'll trying reading the series, too. If you do, talk to him about the books on Twitter @jmdornbush.

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