By Sarah Sluis
Len Wiseman, who has been floating around different projects for the past year or so, is in talks to direct a pitch for 20th Century Fox "based on an original idea about a group of people who survive the end of the world and the mystery surrounding how they got to that position," tentatively called Nocturne.
The idea doesn't sound original at all. In fairness, they may be withholding the secret sauce. Considering the project is looking for writers, it's also possible they haven't figured out exactly what will be in the secret sauce either. Because Wiseman's been attached to a number of projects that haven't come to fruition (out of proportion, I think, to the amount of films he's actually directed), I'm skeptical of this project. Last year, for example, he was attached to direct Motorcade with Tom Cruise starring, but now that project will star Ryan Reynolds with Jon Cassar directing. He was also supposed to direct a video game adaptation Gears of War and Atlantis Rising, in which the famed city of Atlantis declares war on the world. However, this announcement does provide a good opportunity to rehash all the movies/television shows/books that have used the same plot point as Nocturne.
"Flash Forward": This brand new ABC show centers on an event where almost every person in the world has a vision of themselves six months in the future. Everyone abandons all activity and tries to figure out what their clue meant. It borrows a little bit from "Lost" and sounds strongly apocalyptic. It also is a little too similar to the "mystery surrounding how they got to that position" part of Nocturne's plot description.
2012: It's coming out this Friday, and has a soft spot for those that enjoy the architectural demolition derbies that come along with the apocalypse.
"Left Behind" series: There's a reason The Passion of the Christ earned so much money. A religion angle is not only plausible, but profitable. This popular Christian series, which was made into a movie starring Kirk Cameron, follows a group of sinners who are left behind after the Rapture for being unbelievers. It takes them some time to figure out what happened, and then to identify and usurp the Antichrist.
The Road: Coming out this fall. The apocalypse, but with two people against man-hungry cannibals with a side of post-apocalyptic depression.
The most interesting part of this spare plot description is that the characters themselves seem to be flummoxed about their position. Were they knocked out and woke up in a nuclear bunker? Did they get unplugged like in The Matrix? If it weren't for the fact that the "mystery" part was just used in "Flash Forward," I would be more forgiving of this pickup, but it will be up to the assigned writers to prove me wrong.
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