John Krasinski in Talks to Join J.J. Abrams Produced ‘God Particle’

For an actor, the tough thing about becoming famous for playing a single character for nearly a decade on a long-running TV show is that you eventually become identified with that persona, rather than as yourself. So, for instance, if you’re John Krasinski and have made a name for yourself by consistently portraying an aloof but lovable slacker with a penchant for breaking the fourth wall on a popular sitcom, you’ve got to contend with a future full of people joking “Why is Jim from The Office shooting people in Benghazi?” or “Why is Jim from The Office cheating on Pam by having a baby with Maya Rudolph?” or “Who does Jim from The Office think he is, adapting David Foster Wallace for the screen?” It can be rough.

And with that, we relay to you the news that John “Jim from The Office” Krasinski has entered negotiations to take a starring role alongside David Oyelowo and Gugu Mbatha-Raw in the upcoming sci-fi picture God Particle, from J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot production company. He would tentatively play one of the astronauts who “make a terrifying discovery that challenges everything they know about the fabric of reality” and must then “desperately fight for survival,” according to the exclusive from Variety. As is customary with Abrams-backed productions, the details have been kept extremely hush-hush, but its February 24, 2017 release date remains hotly anticipated regardless. Variety claims that production will begin sometime within the next few months, and so it shouldn’t be too long until Krasinski either makes a firmer commitment or splits from the production entirely.

With such an eclectic filmography to his name, a science-fiction projct set in the near future could nicely round out Krasinski’s CV. With any luck, Bad Robot will spin this into another sleeper hit in the vein of Cloverfield, if not an Interstellar-sized blockbuster.