Wayne Kramer (Running Scared) is set to direct dystopian sci-fi film Ecstasia. Deadline reports that Relativity Media has optioned Ecstasia, penned by Kramer, which features a futuristic world where love no longer exists.
Kramer’s story is set in a dystopian alternate universe where the emotion of love has disappeared. It can be artificially simulated through an expensive procedure called “commitment.” Via computer chips implanted in the brain, couples can experience love, but it’s expensive to maintain and payments must be made. If a couple can’t pay the price, they are forced into “dissolution” and the emotional link is disconnected. Ecstasia follows a couple desperately trying to re-finance their love, as they are 10 days away from forced “dissolution.”
After news circulated back in April that Kramer was leaving Sylvester Stallone’s dark comedy Headshot, rumors flew that the parting was caused by a film project of Kramer’s close to being financed. But Stallone reportedly said it was due to creative differences, and that Kramer’s vision “was much darker and exceptionally more violent than how the project (Headshot) was original conceived.”
As of now, no news of casting or shooting dates has been released. Sounds like an interesting premise, but capturing futuristic environments can be tricky. On top of that, the scenario of a future where emotions are absent/outlawed is anything but fresh in the sci fi genre (think Equilibrium, 1984, even Demolition Man and its ilk).
