Though he dabbles in other genres, Will Smith’s heart often seems to belong to sci-fi. And who can blame him when some of his biggest early hits, including Men In Black and Independence Day were firmly full of high concepts? He’s been trying to get a remake of 1970’s Colossus: The Forbin Project going for a few years now alongside Imagine Entertainment andUniversal is now bringing in Ed Solomon to rewrite the script.
The screenplay, which has already seen work from Blake Masters and Jason Rothenberg amongst others, will adapt the original film, which saw Eric Braeden as Dr. Charles Forbin, who builds an artificially intelligent supercomputer, only to discover that it has a sinister agenda of its own. Yeah, way to go brainiac: as if we couldn’t see that one coming.
Universal is keeping Colossus’ story under wraps, though it’ll probably offer a contemporary twist on the tale, much as with I Am Legend compared to The Omega Man. Smith is attached to star and produce.
Solomon is no surprise, as he has form with both Smith and sci-fi, having worked on Men In Black, both Bill & Ted movies and (whisper it) Super Mario Bros. His work will next hit our screens via magician heist pic Now You See Me, which arrives on July 5. Smith will be back in science-fiction mode for After Earth, which lands on June 7. Check out the latest trailer below.