Talk about striking when the iron’s hot – it’s been five years since Jonathan Mostow directed Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines (soon to look like a work of genius next to McG’s Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins). And since then, the 47 year-old director has capitalised on that movie’s success by… well, by being linked with plenty of projects, but actually directing nothing.
He was attached to a remake of John Frankenheimer’s Seconds. He was the first director on board Will Smith’s Hancock, back when it was racier and called Tonight, He Comes. And lately he’s been footering around with The Sub-Mariner for Marvel Studios. But so far, Mostow hasn’t found anything that will see him stand behind a camera and yell ‘action!’ and ‘cut!’ (preferably in that order).
Until today, when he signed on to direct sci-fi thriller The Surrogates for Touchstone Pictures. And, just to prove that it’s pretty far along in the process, Bruce Willis has signed on to star.
Based on a Top Cow graphic novel, the premise for the movie sounds pretty nifty: in the future, all human beings live in isolation and live their lives vicariously through surrogate robots who are better-looking versions of themselves (we //have// to see Angelina Jolie’s surrogate. Now.).
Willis will play a cop whose surrogate investigates the murders of other people’s surrogates. But when he stumbles upon a conspiracy, Willis has to leave his home for the first time in years and see what’s out there in the big bad world.
So it’s a mixture of Blade Runner with I, Robot and possibly every other sci-fi film of the last 30 years. But it still sounds cool as hell, and Mostow is a solid director who should be able to make it work.
Mostow will direct from a script by Michael Ferris and John Brancato, who wrote T3 for him (and who are also our only hope that Terminator Salvation may turn out to be anywhere near decent).
No word yet on any other cast, but the ever-lovely Elizabeth Banks (Betty Brant in Spider-Man) is on board as producer, so we wouldn’t be at all surprised to see her pop up in a supporting role – if she can work it out alongside her starring duties in Kevin Smith’s Zack And Miri Make A Porno.
Filming on The Surrogates is scheduled to begin in Boston next February, with a 2009 release date likely.