Michael Crichton’s ‘Micro’ Still In The Works At Amblin, New Writers Hired
AMicromovie, adapted from one of the final novels ofJurassic ParkauthorMichael Crichton, has been in development at Amblin Entertainment since 2015. Now there’s an update on the project:Neil WidenerandGavin Jameshave been hired to take over screenplay duties. The film’s plot appears to be lifted right out ofHoney, I Shrunk the Kids, focusing on a group of people shrunk down to miniature size and forced to navigate the rain forrest. More on theMicromovie below.
What’s going on withMicro, the film adaptation of one of Michael Crichton’s last novels? The movie was announced in 2015, and last year,Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Talesco-directorJoachim Ronningwashired to direct. Now, Deadline has a new update. Neil Widener and Gavin James, who wroteLiberty RoadandBattle Of Alcatraz, have been hired to write the script. Here’s the synopsis of the story they’ll be dealing with:
In the vein ofJurassic Park,this high-concept thriller follows a group of graduate students lured to Hawaii to work for a mysterious biotech company—only to find themselves miniaturized and cast out into the rain forest, with nothing but their scientific expertise and wits to protect them.
An instant classic,Micropits nature against technology in vintage Michael Crichton fashion. Completed by visionary science writer Richard Preston, this boundary-pushing thriller melds scientific fact with pulse-pounding fiction to create yet another masterpiece of sophisticated, cutting-edge entertainment.
Darren Lemke was previously hired to pen the script, but now Widener and James will take over. Frank Marshall is producing and Sherri Crichton and Laurent Bouzereau of CrichtonSun are executive producers. Deadline states that a director currently isn’t attached to the project, which indicates that Ronning is no longer at the helm.
Microwas unfinished when Crichton died in 2008. Author Richard Preston completed the novel, which was then published in 2011. It was one of three posthumous publications from Crichton, the other two beingPirate Latitudes, published in 2009, andDragon Teeth, which hit bookstores in 2017. Steven Spielberg’s Amblin has a history with Crichton’s work, having produced theJurassic Parkfilms, as well asTwister, which Crichton co-wrote.
TheMicropremise – tiny people battling giant elements! – certainly sounds cinematic enough. It recalls bothHoney, I Shrunk the Kids, and the 1958 sci-fi flickAttack of the Puppet People. And of course, theAnt-Manmovies as well. Crichton movie adaptations have had a rough time outside of theJurassicfranchise, but maybe this will work out in the end.
