Mark and Brian Gunn, who wrote the screenplay for Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, have been tapped to write the script for Timecop, which is a remake of the 1994 Jean-Claude Van Damme time travel action movie.
Marc Shmuger will produce the film under his Universal-based Global Produce, his shingle that was involved in making We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks and The Spectacular Now.
Mike Richardson of Dark Horse, the company that published the comic the movie is based on, will serve as an executive producer.
Timecop, a Universal library title, was set in the near future where time travel is regulated by a police force. One officer (Van Damme) runs into a crooked politician (played by Ron Silver), who uses time travel to further his political career.
The first movie had the sci-fi elements very much in the foreground; however, this version of Timecop is a more gritty and grounded police story with the sci-fi in the background, though it will still have the main character on a personal journey.
Tonally it could end up sharing a similar sensibility to Looper, Rian Johnsons time travel movie, but would be bigger in scope and ambition.
The Gunn cousins are working on a third Journey movie for New Line, a MacGyver feature film as well as a remake of The Monster Squad, which is in development at Paramount. They are repped by ICM Partners and Jackoway Tyerman.
Alexandra Loewy is overseeing development for Global Produce and executive vp production Jon Mone will oversee the project for Universal.
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