Alicia Vikander will get robotic in 'Ex Machina'

Having already shown she can handle a pair of historical romances in Anna Karenina and A Royal Affair, Alicia Vikander has chose a diverse slate to fill out the rest of the year. She'll star opposite Ben Barnes in the YA adaptation The Seventh Son, and then joins Benedict Cumberbatch in the Wikileaks film, The Fifth Estate. Now she's stepping into the future by starring in Ex Machina, the directorial debut by Dredd and 28 Days Later scribe Alex Garland.

Vikander and Felicity Jones (Like Crazy) were said to be the final two trying out for the role last month, at the same time that Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson were coming aboard. Isaac plays a billionaire who handpicks Gleeson to spend a week at his estate and test out his latest experiment, which turns out to be an advanced female robot, with Vikander as the fembot. Garland will direct and pen the $15M project, which is set up with his usual collaborators at DNA Films.

Filming on Ex Machina is set to begin later this year.[TheWrap]