Today, Underworld director Len Wiseman signed on to direct a supernatural sci-fi thriller titled Black Chapter for Skydance Productions. The project, which boasts a script from The Incredible Hulk writer Zak Penn, will focus on an FBI agent “who is drawn into a classified military program that trains its operatives to use paranormal abilities.”
Though the Hellboy series (among others) utilized a similar-sounding set-up, the sky’s really the limit for where Penn and Wiseman (who collaborated with Penn on the original story) can take Black Chapter.
Paul Schwake will executive produce for Skydance Productions, while David Bernardi will executive produce for Wiseman’s Sketch Films. Wiseman will produce alongside David Ellison and Dana Goldberg of Skydance Productions. Of the project, Ellison said:
“Len and Zak have created a truly original piece of science fiction that reimagines the spy genre set in the world of the supernatural… This is exactly the type of original storytelling that we want to produce, and I am thrilled to be in business with both of them.”
Though his 2012 reboot of the Arnold Schwarzenegger classic Total Recall was a failure on every level (our reviewer Jonathan Lack gave it We Got This Covered’s lowest rating of one star), Wiseman has proven before that he can deliver satisfying action vehicles – most notably with 2007’s Live Free or Die Hard – so I’ll reserve my judgment on Black Chapter. He hasn’t done a big screen project since Total Recall (though he directed the pilot episode of FOX’s Sleepy Hollow), and he recently backed down from The Mummy remake, so hopefully the director has taken the time to flesh out a strong story for Black Chapter, given his heavy involvement in multiple capacities.
No release date has yet been set for Black Chapter, though Wiseman’s involvement as director is likely contingent on a quick turn-around.
