Eric Roth Planning Sci-Fi Epic

[Galactus]

By Garth Franklin
Wednesday, December 10th 2008 12:10am
Eric Roth ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button") says that he's keen on doing a big sci-fi feature in the future.

"I’m going to do a big space…I don’t want to say odyssey…that’s been done, but a space movie for Warner Brothers and I want to start like in…I don’t know…sometime next year" he tells Collider.

Roth says its an original ideas of his and wants to mix "the intelligence of “2001” and the mythology of “Star Wars”...I don’t want to make it so intellectual that it’s confounding, but on the other hand I’m not so sure I can write the kind of wonderful fantasy that Lucas does."

Of course it's not a sure thing just yet - "I think it will be great. I have an idea. It’s a terrific idea, I know that. Whether I’m able to be able to do it, I don’t know."

Roth just finished a script for "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close", is about to rewrite "Hatfield/McCoy’s" for Plan B, and is slated to adapt Erik Larson's novel "The Devil in the White City".

 

[FaT_tONle]

Good... we need another big time space epic.

 

[Cinemaman]

If he can handle it, his dreams may come true

 

[biolumen]

I particularly liked what he said about it having 'the intelligence of 2001...and the mythology of Star Wars'. Sounds exciting, especially since it's coming from someone like Roth.

Likely a coincidence, but could this be that Odyssey movie Variety mentioned a couple months ago that was being set up at Warners, the one that was to be set in space and star Brad Pitt? After all, it would be the same star, writer and studio as Benjamin Button.

http://www.variety.com/VR1117994174.html

 

[OsGom]

So many great Sci-Fi epics available by great writers and this screen play writer wants to have his own developed. Granted he's a good writer with Forrest Gump, The Insider and Munich in his credits. However, his lone Sci-Fi credit was a truly horrible adaptation of David Brin's brillaint novel The Postman with Kevin Costner.

If anything he should adapt David Brin's Uplift trilogy to the big screen to redeem himself for ruining The Postman.

 

[Steyin]

IMO the only thing I can think of that has a chance of being the next space epic, or rather, the Star Wars of this generation would be Robotech if done right. If the themes of love/war/politics and social issues were addressed accordingly, and the music was as epic or the same as the series, the film could be huge. Hopefully what he is planning on is something similar (minus transforming mecha of course). I'm curious now, so hopefully this works out and is something truely interesting.