In a recent article dealing directly with the what is happening with the lazy ass studio's relying on sequels, prequels and reboots... what new is there in the pipeline. Well plenty actually and here's the highlights...
Upcoming Science Fiction and Fantasy Movies That Aren’t Remakes, Sequels or Prequels
Charlie Jane Anders
They're rebooting Spider-Man. They're remaking Total Recall. Sometimes, when you're in the middle of summer movie craziness, it can seem like every movie is based on an already-existing movie. But that's not really true — there are actually tons of genre movies in development that are new concepts, at least as far as the movies go. Some of them have already finished filming, while others will never get made.
Is any of them the next Inception or District 9? We'll find out when you do. But here's our round-up of 50-odd science fiction and fantasy movies in the pipeline that aren't sequels, reboots, remakes or prequels of existing films.
Book/Graphic Novel AdaptationsCloud AtlasWhat it's about: An adaptation of David Mitchell's genre-blending novel featuring six different storylines, taking place in the past, the present, the future, and the far future. Starring Halle Berry, Tom Hanks, and tons of others.
Status: Coming out in October.
Prognosis: It sounds as though they've at least tried hard to do justice to the incredibly challenging source material.
Life of PiWhat it's about: Ang Lee adapts Yann Martel's magical realist novel about a boy in a lifeboat, with a handful of animals. And they visit a strange island.
Status: Coming in November.
Prognosis: Ang Lee has almost never let us down before.
World War ZWhat it's about: Max Brooks' novel about the zombie apocalypse becomes a big splashy action movie starring Brad Pitt, directed by Quantum of Solace's Mark Forster.
Status: Postponed until next year because of what are reportedly huge problems with the third act. Damon Lindelof has been brought in for massive rewrites.
Prognosis: The best we can hope for is probably a fun generic zombie movie, since it apparently has little to do with the book.
Dinosaurs & AliensWhat it's about: A Grant Morrison graphic novel (in the works) about dinosaurs fighting aliens, being adapted into a movie by Men in Black's Barry Sonnenfeld.
Status: There was a sneak peek as part of Free Comic Book Day last month. Sonnenfeld told us they're about to try and sell the project in Hollywood.
Prognosis: Grant Morrison creating a whole alien culture sounds like reason enough to be interested.
R.I.P.D.What it's about: Another adaptation of a comic book you probably haven't heard of. Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges are dead cops, fighting zombies.
Status: Coming out June 2013
Prognosis: It sounds pretty fun, if gimmicky — sort of like Men in Black and Ghostbusters mashed together.
The Seventh SonWhat it's about: An adaptation of Joseph Delaney's The Spook's Apprentice. Also featuring Jeff Bridges in a mentor role, the titular Spook.
Status: Coming October 2013.
Prognosis: Sounds sort of like the Nic Cage Sorcerer's Apprentice, but having Jeff Bridges as Master Gregory is a huge, huge boost.
Ender's GameWhat it's about: The movie adaptation of Orson Scott Card's famous novel about a boy genius who goes to a very special school during a war against alien "Buggers."
Status: Coming out in November 2013.
Prognosis: The makers of the film seem to be going to crazy lengths to be true to the novel, while also making something that looks cool. So fingers crossed!
Jack the Giant-KillerWhat it's about: Bryan Singer's long-delayed film about a boy (Nicholas Hoult) who unwittingly opens a portal and unleashes a race of giants, who want to reclaim the Earth. Loosely an adaptation of the fairy tale.
Status: It was supposed to come out this summer, but was delayed until Spring 2013.
Prognosis: A movie being delayed — especially from the summer to the spring — is never a terribly good sign.
Hansel and Gretl: Witch HuntersWhat it's about: Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton are the stars of the classic fairy tale, now grown up and killing witches.
Status: Like Jack the Giant Killer, it was delayed until next year, in this case January.
Prognosis: It's Jeremy Renner in black leather. Sorry, were you asking something about the potential quality or lack thereof of this film?
Warm BodiesWhat it's about: An adaptation of Isaac Marion's novel about a zombie (Hoult, again) who falls in love with the girlfriend of one of his victims.
Status: Coming February 2013.
Prognosis: Directed by 50/50 director Jonathan Levine, so at least it should be pretty stylin.
John Dies at the EndWhat it's about: The gonzo novel by
****.com's David Wong about a weird dug called "soy sauce" gets a movie adaptation starring Paul Giamatti. Thanks to everyone who reminded me of this one in comments!
Status: It's done the festival circuit, no release date yet.
Prognosis: The buzz from Sundance and other festivals was really strong.
RobopocalypseWhat it's about: Steven Spielberg adapts Daniel H. Wilson's novel about a robot uprising, complete with lavish battle scenes.
Status: Coming in 2014, but filming hasn't happened yet — so anything could happen.
Prognosis: If it actually happens, the robot carnage should at least look amazingly sweet.
NoahWhat it's about: Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, The Fountain) adapts the Biblical story of Noah's Ark, with Russell Crowe and a cast that might include Emma Watson and Jennifer Connelly. Aronofsky also co-wrote a Noah graphic novel (at left.)
Status: Currently in the casting stage, with lots of announcements coming fast and furious.
Prognosis: Aronofsky reportedly wants this film to portray Noah as "the first environmentalist." At the very least, the scenes of global flooding could be fascinating.
Odd ThomasWhat it's about: Anton Yelchin stars in the adaptation of Dean Koontz's book series about a guy who can talk to the dead, and who has an instinct for trouble.
Status: Totally done, although there's no release date yet.
Prognosis: We talked to Koontz recently, and he said it was the first time he'd been happy with the movie version of one of his books.
NeuromancerWhat it's about: Splice director Vincenzo Natali was officially attached to adapt William Gibson's ground-breaking novel about the sprawl, artificial intelligence, hackers and intrigue.
Status: There hasn't been much news lately and Natali is busy directing the horror film Haunter (see below.) But sometimes it just takes a while to get a script everyone is happy with.
Prognosis: If it actually gets made, it would probably be a fantastic ride. Fingers crossed.
Snow CrashWhat it's about: Joe Cornish (Attack the Block) will adapt Neal Stephenson's novel set in a corporate-dominated near future, in which Hiro Protagonist investigates a potent new drug that infects users with a computer virus.
Status: Cornish's signing was just announced, so it's way too early to tell yet.
Prognosis: After Attack the Block, we're excited to see Cornish do something more ambitious.
Ready Player OneWhat it's about: Warner Bros. won an auction to adapt Ernie Cline's novel about a video game nerd who goes on a quest through a 1980s-themed virtual world in the future.
Status: There's lots of speculation about director and casting, but no real news yet. The film might come out in 2014.
Prognosis: Cline has talked a lot about wanting the movie version to embrace some of the wild visuals of the virtual world, sort of like Inception.
We Mortals AreWhat it's about: The movie version of the acclaimed Japanese novel All You Need is Kill, about a soldier fighting aliens who keeps getting brought back from the dead over and over. Starring Tom Cruise.
Status: It's cast and everything, but filming doesn't seem to have started yet.
Prognosis: Director Doug Liman had a decent track record with the Bourne movies, before Jumper. And more alien-fighting is never a bad thing.
Mortal InstrumentsWhat it's about: Lily Collins (Mirror Mirror) stars in the movie adaptation of Cassandra Clare's novel about Clary Fray, a teenager who discovers she's the descendant of a demon-hunting clan. Jamie Campbell Bower plays Jace Wayland, a half-man, half-angel.
Status: Filming hasn't started yet, but it's already scheduled to come out in August 2013.
Prognosis: It was originally going to be helmed by Scott Stewart, director of Legion and Priest, but then Stewart dropped out and was replaced by Harald Zwart (Agent Cody Banks, The Karate Kid). So it's probably gone from brooding action to something a bit more zippy. It also sounds like they're rushing to meet a release date that was set ages ago.