You might not remember, but quite a few years ago, director Joseph Kosinski got attached to direct a remake of Disney‘s 1979 film “The Black Hole.” This was in the midst of him gearing up “Tron: Legacy” and there hasn’t bee much news about it since, but recently at WonderCon, Kosinski said it was still on his slate. “We’ve been working on the story for four years now,” he shared with IGN, adding, “We got a really exciting idea for it. As long as the script can kind of deliver on that — the interest is there on the studio side. It’s going to have enough creative juices to have in order to dive back in. We got some exciting ideas — so we’ll see.” So yes, Disney is interested.
The studio has snapped up “Prometheus” (and “The Darkest Hour,” fyi) scribe Jon Spaihts to write the movie, taking over for Jesse Wigutow, who only just a few days ago, Kosinski said in the same interview, was set to drop a first draft (Travis Beacham of “Pacific Rim” was also an early writer on the project). The most expensive movie at the time for Disney, “The Black Hole” — which follows a group of space explorers who encounter a lost ship, outside of a black hole, with a robot crew commanded by a mad man scientist — the picture may be beloved in some quarters, but it hasn’t aged particularly well. So it’s ripe for a new version and according to THR, the new take will be “philosophical and somewhat dark in tone.” Well, as much as a Disney tentpole will allow — remember, they’ve got toys to sell.
Already in the works for years, this one still seems a bit of a way off, but it should calm folks who are wary, that it seems Disney is taking the time to get it right, rather than just pouncing on the property and churning something out. Room for optimism then? We’ll see. For now, you can check out Kosinski’s “Oblivion” when it opens on April 18th.