Sci-Fi Storm

This is a movie we’d really like to see done again (although we are often against remakes), but it has been over a DECADE that James Cameron has been trying to get a new adaptation of Fantastic Voyage off the ground – we first reported about it in 2002 – and though directors have come and gone over the years, Cameron apparently still wants it to happen. The latest report by THR is that Guillermo del Toro, who is apparently available with Pacific Rim 2 not likely to get made any time soon, in talks to take this project over. This would reteam del Toro with David Goyer, who wrote the treatment for the project and wrote Blade 2 for del Toro.

The original movie, written by Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby (and novelized by Isaac Asimov) was set during the Cold War, and follows the adventure of a group of doctors and crew who are shrunk down to microscopic size in a specially built submarine and injected into the body of an important scientist who was critically injured in an assassination attempt while attempting to defect to the U.S., hoping to repair damage to his brain from the inside to save his life. Why? Because while both the U.S. and Soviet Union have this miniaturization technology, it only lasts a short amount of time – but this scientist knows how to make it last indefinitely, and the military implications are significant.

BBC announced new programming today, which includes a green light on a new adaptation of Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, and they will pick up the BBC Three Doctor Who spin-off Class.

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency is an adaptation of Douglas Adams’ (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Doctor Who) wildly successful comic novels, and is set in the unexpected world of its hyperactive, absurdist, eponymous detective, Dirk Gently. The straight-to-series order includes eight one-hour episodes. Penned by Max Landis — the mind behind cult classic Chronicle — the series is a co-production of AMC Studios, Ideate Media, and IDW Entertainment, with Circle of Confusion producing.

Sarah Barnett, President of BBC America, commented, “Dirk Gently is a very original series, fresh and unlike anything else. The novels have legions of fans, and with Max Landis’ brilliant and audacious take on this material, we are excited to bring Dirk to life for our BBCA super-fans.”

Dirk Gently is a serialized comedic thriller that follows the bizarre adventures of eccentric “holistic” detective Dirk Gently and his reluctant assistant Todd, as they wend their way through one big, seemingly insane mystery, crossing unlikely paths with a bevy of wild and sometimes dangerous characters, each episode landing them a few random steps closer to uncovering the truth.

In addition to show creator Max Landis, Executive producers include Ted Adams and David Ozer for IDW; David Alpert and Rick Jacobs for Circle of Confusion; and Zainir Aminullah and Arvind Ethan David for Ideate Media.

Class was announced in October by BBC as a spin-off to Doctor Who – although how it ties in is still a mystery. Done as an eight-part series, Class will be co-produced by BBC America marking the TV screenwriting debut of acclaimed author Patrick Ness, best known for his award-winning book [asin=0763660655]A Monster Calls[/asin]. Set in a school in contemporary London, it is executive produced by Steven Moffat and Brian Minchin, the team behind Doctor Who.

Produced by BBC Cymru Wales and filmed in Cardiff, Class will premiere in 2016.