Edgar Wright’s next film is about a robot dentist who discovers emotions

Edgar Wright has built his career on breaking boundaries and trying new things. After bursting onto the scene with his Cornetto trilogy of films (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End) that showed his comedic genius in a variety of genres, he has since branched out into other types of films like Scott Pilgrim versus the World and more recently Baby Driver. Now it appears he is prepared to take another stab at sci-fi with a story about an android dentist.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wright is set to direct the story from Simon Stephenson’s upcoming novel Set My Heart to Five. The novel that will only hit shelves later this year is said to be about a robot dentist named Jared who experiences human emotion for the first time after being exposed to 80s and 90s movies. It becomes Jared’s mission to reunite with his creator and write his own film in order to convince humans that robots have every right to feel the same way that humans do.

It’s a rather bizarre concept, but one that seems perfectly suited to Wright’s style where he can bring a sense of relatability and humour to a film that will no doubt be filled with pop culture references from bygone cinema eras, along with an emotional chug or two.

Perhaps what is truly brave is the studio Working Title Films choosing to acquire the rights to the novel before it is even released. They obviously have a lot of faith in both the story and Stephenson’s writing, believing that this movie has the potential to connect with fil fans around the world. At least they have a capable and creative director who should be able to do the story justice.

Last Updated: April 1, 2020