Martin Freeman and Iain Armitage will star in The Adam Trials

Martin Freeman and Iain Armitage are to star in The Adam Trials.

The duo have signed up to appear in the psychological thriller that contains a sci-fi twist from writer-director Ben Ketai.

The movie centres on the story of two parents who will do anything to save the life of their terminally ill son, including experimenting with nanotechnology that begins to show successful signs but at a dark cost.

Compelling Pictures are producing the film whilst Freeman is on board as an executive producer with Noah Rosen, Dennis Casali, Matthew Gallagher and Steven Garcia.

Casting for the female lead has started as the movie aims to shoot this year.

Ketai - who previously collaborated with Freeman on the crime drama series StartUp - said: "This movie has been a dream of mine for quite some time now, as has the opportunity to work with Martin again.

"Now with Iain's talent in the mix, I am counting the seconds until we start rolling."

Compelling Pictures boss Denis O'Sullivan said: "As lifelong fans of thought-provoking, grounded sci-fi, it's thrilling to be part of bringing this pressure-cooker of a movie to the screen with the enormously talented Ben Ketai.

"Audiences will be on the edge of their seats watching the cat-and-mouse game that unfolds between Martin and Iain as the story hurtles towards a stunning final twist."

Martin's previous film credits include Love Actually and The Hobbit franchise and he revealed back in 2022 that he would "consider" directing a big screen flick.

The 53-year-old actor told Collider: "It’s something that I would consider. I do think about it. I change with it, really. Sometimes when I’m on set and I see what a director does, I look at it and go, 'Yeah, I could do that. I’d be right with this part of it.'

However, the Black Panther star isn't sure if he has the "mental bandwidth" to deal with the "endless questions" that are asked of directors during the making of a movie.

Martin said: "But then, there are other parts of directing that I’m still not sure I’d have the mental bandwidth for, just with the endless questions and how you have to be across everything. I know I would enjoy the bits where I’m rehearsing with actors. I don’t know how good I’d be at the other stuff, or how much I’d enjoy that stuff. But never say never. If I get the confidence to think I could do it, then maybe so."

The star plays CIA operative Everett K. Ross in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) but admits that there was a "gap" on set of the movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever without the late Chadwick Boseman, who played the title role in the original film before his death from cancer at the age of 43 in 2020.

Freeman said: "It was strange, that side of it. On the one hand, you're making the film that you're there to make, and there are scores and scores of people on set, joined in this endeavor to make the film. But there's also no question that, at the heart of it, there's quite a gap now, and you felt it."