Robopocalypse comes back online.
Imagine Entertainment and Weed Road are developing a series based on the 2011 book by Daniel H. Wilson, with Imagine’s Ron Howard attached to direct the pilot and Weed Road’s Akiva Goldsman set to show and write the pilot. No networks or streamers are involved yet.
The book rose to fame in the early 2010s when Steven Spielberg tapped him to direct before it was even published, with a draft of the screenplay written by Drew Goddard. Spielberg flirted with the book for years, with Anne Hathaway and Chris Hemsworth attached to star. Spielberg ultimately postponed the project indefinitely in 2014, with Michael Bay coming on board in 2018 to direct it. This version was not made either.
Now, Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment will produce the series. Brian Grazer and Jeb Brody of Imagine and Greg Lessans and Rachel Wizenberg of Weed Pictures will lead development with Goldsman and Howard.
The novel is more relevant than ever amid current fears that AI could cause the death of humanity. It focuses on humanity’s war against robots controlled by powerful AI, and according to the logline: “Not far into our future, the dazzling technology that runs our world turns against us. At Zero Hour, as the robots attack, the human race is nearly wiped out, but as its scattered remnants band together, humanity unites for the first time in a determined effort to fight back. Brilliantly crafted and incredibly detailed, Robopocalypse is an action-packed epic with frightening implications about the real technology around us.
“Robopocalypse has all the scale and suspense of a major action story, but what drew me to it were the thought-provoking themes and humanity at its center,” Howard said in a statement. “Daniel has created a future that is both surprising and increasingly plausible, with characters who must figure out what connects us when the technology we rely on turns against us. I am also excited to work with Akiva again. We’ve shared some incredibly meaningful creative experiences, and this seems like the right story to bring us together again.
Howard and Goldsman have been longtime collaborators, dating back to the film A beautiful spiritwhich won Howard the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture, and awarded Goldsman the statue for Best Adapted Screenplay.
And they found great success with The Da Vinci Codetheir adaptation of Dan Brown’s novel. The 2006 film surpassed $760 million worldwide.
Gn entert
