James Cameron Gives ‘Fantastic Voyage’ Update: Shawn Levy Still In, Script Development Two-Thirds Complete
WhileJames Cameronis hard at work perfectingTitanic 3Dand writingAvatar 2and3, he’s also producing a number of other projects including a 3D reboot ofFantastic Voyage. The film has been in developmentfor some yearswith several A-List directors attached,the latest beingShawn Levy(Real Steel). However, Levy just addedFrankensteinandPinocchioto his dance card, which made it seem likeFantastic Voyagewas dead once again. Not the case says the mega-producer.
After the jump, read Cameron’s latest remarks on the remake of the 1966 film about a team of scientists shrunken down to explore the human body.
Deadlinespoke to Cameron at the recentTitanic 3Devent (read Peter’sthoughts on that here) and he implied that not only is Levy still on board, he’s actively working on the film:
Here’s how Deadline described the new direction for the story.
Much like Titanic the new Voyage has a real emotional core to it, basically dealing with a doctor going through troubled times in his marriage who finds himself injected into his gravely ill wife in order to save her life. Apparently, once he gets to the brain, things really heat up.
Cameron also said the script for a movie like this is very complex and is currently about two-thirds of the way to being where it needs to be. The director did a first takea long time ago, andLaeta Kalogridis(Shutter Island) was hireda year agoto rewriteShane Salerno’s original draft that got this current development moving.
Taking the concept for the original and morphing it into a love story certainly seems like a logical decision from an emotional and economic standpoint. It gives the scientists an even stronger reason to shrink themselves, makes the drama more relatable and blends sci-fi with romance, bringing in a bigger audience. However, if this script is only two-thirds of the way from being complete, odds are Levy willalmost certainly doFrankensteinorReal Steel 2first, making this a 2014 or 2015 release at the earliest.
Do you think this new direction is smart? Should Levy make this his next project or wait it out?
