Not even a week ago, we mentioned an awesome concept pitch from an Irish filmmaker called The Leviathan that had gone viral. Yesterday, two very familiar Hollywood names, both with serious sci-fi bona fides, have confirmed attachment to the project.
Joining the producing ranks is Simon Kinberg, who has a toe dipped in both the X-Men and Star Wars franchises, amongst many other properties. He’s joined by Neill Blomkamp, who introduced himself with 2009’s District 9, and just released Chappie this month. Kinberg is consulting on the new Star Wars movies, and Blomkamp has signed on to tackle a new installment of the Alien franchise, so Leviathan creator Ruairà (for us Americans, that’s pronounced Rory) Robinson would be hard-pressed to find two better people to bounce ideas off of when it comes to interstellar content.
The 3-minute short really is worth every bit of the hype it’s receiving. The title seems to refer to the large creatures which are being hunted & harvested for a biological fuel that provides our future civilization the necessity of light-speed travel. You can get a sense of the scope below:
It’s safe to bet that once the producing roster has been filled, Robinson will have the funding to make this already good looking concept into a spectacular visual treat. The creatures, which I’m going to just call leviathans, remind me a bit of the Star Whales from Doctor Who’s (current run) 5th season. Leviathans aren’t nearly large enough to house an entire country’s population, but they are described as being the largest species discovered by man in this movie’s universe. As big monster movies go, methinks a giant, flying, omnivorous, agile, whale-serpent will make for a pretty compelling watch.
Ruairà Robinson has previously directed The Last Days On Mars starring Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan, Salt) and Romola Garai (BBC’s The Hour, Emma.) He can be found on Twitter.
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HT: Deadline
IMAGES: Courtesy Ruairà Robinson
Is this movie about killing off a species or is it a good movie and not just a giant hunting expedition? it look soooo good!
This is the first I’ve heard of this and it looks awesome! I will have to agree with what’s been previously stated about Blomkamp directing this, he really is not that great of a director. His movies are essentially social and political commentary with expensive (incredibly nice looking albeit) special effects/CGI. He will ruin this awesome idea. Get a guy like Alex Proyas, I think he is the better, and original, Blomkamp. And, yes, I did make this connection through comparing Chappie to iRobot.
The article didn’t say Blomkamp would be the director, that would be Ruairi Robinson. It said Kinberg and Blomkamp joined the producing ranks.
So it’s Dune meets Cloud City. Effects looked okay, but since there was no hint of plot in the teaser, it’s hard to say much about this. The association of Blomkamp doesn’t give me much hope for it, though.
Special effects and design wise it looks pretty good. I do have some difficulty with the main concept being the hunt of a giant flying whale for fuel basically.I just don’t know how long the movie could stay interesting with that plot.We’ve seen this movie a hundred times already,just the place and time have changed. Man kills giant creatures. Another,smarter giant creature finds a way to destroy the whole operation on said planet. The End.
Except this is written by the dude who wrote Fight Club. How spoiled are we that you see a trailer like that and have that reaction.
I can not say this enough Blomkamp is a horrible at everything I was excited for Leviathan till his name came up and i would welcome the death of one of my favorite franchises(Alien) then see a movie that hack put in its mythology.
“Horrible at everything”….really? Did you see district 9? Did you see Chappie? THey are both incredible works of art and storytelling in a sci-fi universe.
I’ve seen both, they were awful. I really really don’t like his work, I think guys like this are ruining sci-fi.
Out of curiosity, what do you consider a good sci-fi movie?
That looks awesome. Up the Irish! I would love this to be developed and from a person from my land too 🙂