**Update: **Prepare for take off! Zemeckis is on board and Washington's deal is apparently close to locked, according to the LA Times. It should be shooting by the autumn.
It turns out that sci-fi 'toon Mars Needs Moms crashing and burning at the box office might actually have a positive effect on its producer’s career – as it appears Robert Zemeckis is now looking to get back into live-action filmmaking, entering an approach vector for Paramount’s drama thriller Flight, with Denzel Washington loosely attached as a star.
Written by Real Steel’s John Gatins, Flight focuses on a pilot looking to rescue his life from the spiral of drug and alcohol addiction. He’s tested when the plane he’s flying develops a serious mechanical failure, but steps up to the task and saves both it and his passengers.
And when the Federal Aviation Authority, which investigates such things, finds evidence pointing to his drug use, it attempts to shove it under the rug in order to help his recovery.
If he does bring the project in to land, this will mark Zemeckis’ first foray into live action since** Cast Away** in 2000, and following his left turn into the world of motion-capture with the likes of The Polar Express and A Christmas Carol. But while he’d lined up at least one more using the technology, a remake of trippy Beatles musical Yellow Submarine, that saw its plug pulled following Mars’ failure. The idea that he’ll return to full live-action filmmaking has us cheering, so keep your fingers crossed...