Warner Bros. is evidently happy with director Doug Liman’s work on Edge of Tomorrow, as they’ll be bringing him back to adapt the YA sci-fi novel, Railhead. Written by Philip Reeve, the story is set in a futuristic world (of course) where “trains run through space via portals.” The main protagonist will be a “petty thief hired to steal an object that happens to be more important than he was led to believe, setting off an adventure that could change the course of the galaxy.”
If you haven’t yet heard of Railhead, it’s because it isn’t out in stores yet. It won’t drop until fall of 2015, so it’s still a long ways away. While it might be unfair to pass judgement this early on, the novel sounds pretty similar to a number of other YA stories that have already been turned into films or are in the process of being adapted. Even with someone as talented as Doug Liman at the helm, I’m not too confident that Warner Bros. will be able to deliver anything new or noteworthy here. After all, the last time the director tried his hand at a YA novel adaptation we got Jumper, so I’m not too eager to see him return to the genre again.
As I said though, it’s still early to be writing this one off. It could very well turn out to be a truly thrilling intergalactic adventure that translates really well to the big screen. Who knows? At this point, all we can do is wait and see who else Warner Bros. brings on board for Railhead. With a talented cast and a strong writer, they just might be able to find success in a genre where most efforts fall flat on their face.
