Novelist Daniel H. Wilson nearly saw his words on the big screen two years back, when Steven Spielberg optioned the rights to his novel Robopocalypse. While it might be taking a while to develop, it is still apparently on the director’s to-do list, but that doesn’t mean his robo-infused mind has stalled. Now, it seems Brad Pitt’s production banner, Plan B, are set to collaborate with the author on his original idea, Alpha.
Wilson will be penning the script and Canadian newcomer Anthony Scott Burns has been tagged to direct. As part of his pitch to land the gig, Burns crafted a fake commercial based around one of the companies in the story. A pretty neat idea, one which likely stemmed from his outside-the-box approach to filmmaking. Prior to landing the gig, Burns was known online for having designed a badass fan trailer for Tron, as well as helming the moody sci-fi short, Manifold.
THR reports that Lionsgate picked up Alpha, placing Plan B’s Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner in line to produce the pic. Based on an original concept by Wilson, Alpha is a “sci-fi survival story that has shades of Jack London.”
That brief premise suggests a very, very similar story to Robopocalypse. In that novel, a sentient A.I. buried deep beneath the Alaskan ice threatens to take over the world. The story is told from many characters’ points of view, which reminds me slightly of Plan B’s biggest genre hit, World War Z.
At this stage, Plan B have established their name via that zombie smash and Oscar-winner, 12 Years A Slave. They’re absolute polar opposites in terms of content, but it seems like they’re edging back toward the genre side. As well as Alpha, Plan B are also developing comic book adaptation, Wytches.
We’ll keep you posted with any new developments on the Wilson-Plan B collaboration, as they land.
