http://jam.canoe.ca/Movies/2010/06/25/14511636.html
Sci-fi romantic epic in works
By Borys Kit, REUTERS
LOS ANGELES - Thank "Avatar" for Hollywood's resurgent interest in sci-fi.
Fox is getting ready to bet on sci-fi again and is the lead contender to
pick up an original spec script titled "Ion."
Channing Tatum ("Dear John") is attached to star in the project, which is
labeled a sci-fi romantic epic, with Ridley and Tony Scott attached to
produce. Tatum will also serve as a producer.
The plot revolves around a man who travels to different Earths and
dimensions in order to find his reincarnated lover. Execs are using the
magic word -- "Avatar" -- to describe the scope and otherworldly elements
of the script.
"Ion" actually made the rounds last year but didn't take. In the
post-"Avatar" Hollywood, however, the script is generating renewed
interest. It attracted the Scott brothers, who helped develop British
writer Will Dunn's script further, which led to Tatum's involvement.
But credit "Avatar," with its record-breaking $2.7 billion worldwide take
and envelope-pushing technology, as well as the strong critical and
commercial showing of last year's "Star Trek" and "District 9," for
opening the door for sci-fi projects like never before.
Since "Avatar" introduced the Navi'i to Hollywood, a slew of projects have
been set up. Among them:
"All You Need is Kill" - Warner Bros. plunked seven figures for Dante
Harper-scripted adaptation of a Japanese novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. The
story follows a new recruit in a war against aliens who finds himself
caught in a time loop where he wakes up one day in the past after having
been killed on the battlefield. Doug Liman is now circling to direct the
movie.
"Mass Effect" - In May, WB-based producer Legendary picked up the rights
to the the Electronic Arts-BioWare video game. Mark Protosevich, the
scribe who wrote "I Am Legend" and worked on "Thor," is writing the
script. "Mass" is an epic sci-fi action game set in the year 2183,
focusing on a human soldier and his starship, the SSV Normandy. The
galaxy-spanning story involves a long-extinct race of aliens, dormant
beacons and more alien species than you can shake a box of Unobtanium at.
"Pacific Rim" - Also in May, Legendary picked up a 25-page treatment from
"Clash of the Titans" scribe Travis Beacham. The story is reportedly set
in a future in which malevolent creatures threaten the earth, and the
planet must band together and use highly advanced technology to eradicate
the growing menace.
"Logan's Run" - The title had been at Warners for years, but is benefiting
from the sci-fi wave. Carl Rinsch is now on board to direct and "28 Days
Later..." writer Alex Garland is penning the script.
