Chris Pine-Olivia Wilde to reunite for podcast series

After starring in Olivia Wilde's Don't Worry Darling, Chris Pine will team with the filmmaker/actress again for a scripted podcast series.

Just a little under a year after Chris Pine starred in and was spit on by Harry Styles during the press tour for Olivia Wilde‘s Don't Worry Darling, the two will reunite once again for a scripted podcast.

Deadline reported that Pine and Wilde are just two amongst a star-studded cast for a new podcast series, Ad Lucem, for QCode. Also starring are Fiona Shaw, Clancy Brown, and Patrick Adams. The series, which will premiere later this summer, was created by Trioan Bellisario (Pretty Little Liars) and Josh Close (Fargo) and is billed as a “socio-political thriller series” that's set in the Big Apple, New York City, a few years into the future.

The series revolves around a tech company, Ad Lucem OI, and its latest invention, CARA (Corporeal Augmented Reality Assistant), a live operator that can provide individual organic responses and services ad facilitates its subject in a way that only a human can. This technological advancement comes with consequences, as films like Ex Machina and M3GAN have shown us.

In a statement, Pine — who serves as an executive producer of the series — said: “I had a great time partnering with QCode and working alongside amazing talents Olivia and Fiona on this thought-provoking series. The podcast is extremely relevant to the technological upheavals happening in all our lives and questions its impact on real, human connection. I’m excited to share this gripping series with audiences everywhere.”

Co-creators Bellisario and Close also gave a statement, “As we live more of our lives online, Ad Lucem touches on our growing concerns regarding technology and its ability to disconnect us emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Is this hurting us more than helping? Who are we online? And how do we adapt to A.I. as human beings? With conflicted three-dimensional characters in an operatic and entertaining setting, we think this podcast will be an extremely provocative and fun journey for listeners.”

Ad Lucem marks the second recent (and third overall) collaboration between Chris Pine and Olivia Wilde. As noted, Pine starred in Wilde's Don't Worry Darling and played a tech genius like the ones likely to be portrayed in Ad Lucem. The two also starred in People Like Us in 2012.

Ad Lucem will premiere during the summer of 2023.