Cloud Atlas photos make an impact

A number of cast photos for the Wachowskis’ new fantasy epic, Cloud Atlas have tipped up online.

Cloud Atlas depicts the complex threads of a story spread across multiple centuries. It kicks off in the 19th century and runs up to the dystopian fall of civilization, with a complex tale that intertwines throughout the ages.

The images show Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, and Ben Whishaw in two of the film’s six different time-lines.

We also have this new synopsis of the film:

Cloud Atlas is an epic story of humankind in which the actions and consequences of our lives impact one another throughout the past, present and future as one soul is shaped from a murderer into a savior and a single act of kindness ripples out for centuries to inspire a revolution.

The synopsis for the original novel offers additional details about the characters and time periods, but there is no knowing what may have been changed for the film:

A reluctant voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a disinherited composer blagging a precarious livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; a high-minded journalist in Governor Reagan’s California; a vanity publisher fleeing his gangland creditors; a genetically modified “dinery server” on death-row; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander witnessing the nightfall of science and civilization – the narrators of Cloud Atlas hear each other’s echoes down the corridor of history, and their destinies are changed in ways great and small.

Cloud Atlas also  stars Hugh Grant, Susan Sarandon, Hugo Weaving, James D’Arcy, and Jim Sturgess. It’s directed by Tom Tykwer in addition to the Wachowskis. The film is slated to sail into theaters on October 26th, 2012, moved up from the original December release date.

If you’d like to see more photos, there is a huge collection over on Comingsoon.