Sci-Fi Storm

Ah, it’s time for a Logan’s Run update…the story of the attempt to remake the cult classic based on the novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, seems to have had a longer history than the lives of the inhabitants of the City of Domes.

The Hollywood Reporter confirms that The Hunger Games screenwriter Peter Craig will take on the task. Logan’s Run was describe by director Simon Kinberg, still attached to the project, as “the granddaddy of Maze Runner and Hunger Games and so many of these books and movies now.”

Hopefully Craig comes up with a script that may actually get into production. He’s also working on an adaptation of S.T.A.G.S..

Given how long we’ve been reporting on the remake, which unlike other such projects has persisted over the years, I thought I’d go back through the archives and note how many times it came up…Sci-Fi Storm started in 2000, and the first reference we had to it was in 2003:

July 2003: First mention of Bryan Singer involved

May 2004: Singer confirmed to be directing and sharing writing duties, with Joel Silver producing.

2004-2005: Singer’s production pile keeps getting bigger, with Logan’s Run stuck near the bottom.

February 2006: Singer says he teamed with Christopher McQuarrie and they are finishing the script.

May 2006: Singer says he likely won’t direct.

August 2007: Joseph Kosinski attached to direct in place of Singer,

2008-2009: *crickets*

May 2010: Carl Rinsch named as director.

June 2010: Alex Garland in negotiations as writer.

November 2010: Carl Rinsch out as director, but strong script turned in by Garland.

February 2011: Ryan Gosling set to star with Nicholas Winding Refn directing. Will Beall at some point also works on the script.

November 2011: Yet another writer – Andrew Baldwin.

June 2013: Bioshock‘s Ken Levine takes over the script.

June 2015: Simon Kinberg now takes over script and joins as a producer.

June 2016: Colony co-creator Ryan Condal is next on the writer’s block. Kinberg still involved.

Fifteen years, but it’s always been Warner Bros. behind it, and I believe Joel Silver is still involved as well. Will the desire for young adult dystopian futures dry up before we see this? Or will we all be living in the City of Domes by then?

It’s time to come out of our holiday-induced coma and get caught up on the news, so here is some rapidfire TidBits…

Sadly, we have learned that actress Heather Menzies-Urich, wife of late actor Robert Urich and best known as Louisa in The Sound Of Music, passed away on December 24th at the age of 68. Obscure SF TV fans may also known her for playing Jessica in the TV series version of Logan’s Run.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi added another $99 million over the holiday weekend, although analysts expected more from the weekend. Fans seem to be greatly debating the merits of the movie…from our point of view it was a good movie but with a slew of technical problems. Expect a spoiler-laden review later this week.

In the meantime, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle appeared to get a big turnout from holiday audiences looking for something lighthearted, getting $72m since the Wednesday open and including $2m from the Amazon Prime Members preview earlier in the month. It’s definitely a good movie for audiences looking for a laugh. The Greatest Showman, which appears to be fighting critical reviews as well as the competition, only made $19m for the same six days, but we think is a great musical film with several Oscar-worthy songs.

Lastly, Quentin Taranino’s R-rated Star Trek has named a writer – The Revenant‘s Mark L. Smith.

I’ve been thinking that I might be living in the Domed City before we get the long, LONG promised remake of Logan’s Run that Joel Silver and Warner Bros has been trying to make for years, but it may have finally taken another step forward.

Simon Kinberg was last reported to be working on a script, and he is still involved but now they have brought in Colony co-creator Ryan Condal to build off of Kinberg’s work.

This movie isn’t a remake of the 1976 film (which modified the story in several ways, such as increasing the age of Lastday to 30), but is to be based on the original novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. It follows Logan, who works as a Deep Sleep Operative (also referred to as a “Sandman”) – the police of the of the post-apocalyptic world where population is strictly controlled. The Sandmen were charges with hunting down and executing “runners” – those who upon reaching the age of 21 refused to report to a “sleepshop”, where they were humanely executed to keep the population steady. The Sandmen use a gun that can fire different types of projectiles, including the dreaded “Homer” which zeros in on body hit and upon contact ignites every pain nerve in the body, causing an excruciatingly painful death. Logan decides to become a runner on his Lastday in order to track down and infiltrate an underground railroad for runners.

Call us cautiously optimistic. The current appetite for young adult post-apocalyptic action movies might increase the interest in finally getting this done.

Well, it’s been a couple years, but it’s time for more news about a remake of Logan’s Run.

The project is still at Warner Bros with Joel Silver producing, but now Simon Kinberg, who has been working on one of the Star Wars anthology films, will work on a script and join as a producer.

The novel follows Logan, who works as a Sandman (also called a “Deep Sleep Operative”) – the police of the of the post-apocalyptic world where population is strictly controlled. The Sandmen were charges with hunting down and executing “runners” – those who upon reaching the age of 21 refused to report to a “sleepshop”, where they were humanely executed to keep the population steady. Logan is chosen to become a runner on his Lastday in order to track down and infiltrate an underground railroad for runners. While doing so, he has a change of heart.

The novel was turned into a 1976 feature film starring Michael York as Logan, but to take advantage of more mature actors the age for Lastday was changed to 30 along with various other differences, including being set in a domed city.

It is uncertain if this version will follow the book or film settings, although previous reports were that it would return the Lastday age to 21. I think having the Lastday age being set older makes more logical sense, but in the current environment of young adult post-apocalyptic franchises, adhering more closely to the book might be a boost, especially considering that the novel could be the granddaddy of all YA post-apoc stories…

Every couple of years, we get teased…but the Logan’s Run remake, long in development hell, is showing life once more.

Ken Levine, who was once a screenwriter before moving to video games and creating he massively successful Bioshock franchise, is set to work on a script for Jon Berg at Warner Bros. At last report, Andrew Baldwin was working on a script for Nicolas Winding Refn (with Green Lantern‘s Ryan Gosling attached), and there were several writers and directors with their hands on it before that, mostly under the auspices of Joel Silver. So until they start filming, I don’t have my hopes up.

Logan’s Run is a 1967 novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, about a dystopian future society where population is strictly controlled, and everyone must willingly submit to euthanasia on the day they turn 21. Logan, a “Sandman”, is responsible for tracking down those evading their fates, called “runners”, who attempt to escape the society and find the legendary Sanctuary – but in turn becomes one himself.

The novel was adapted in to a film in 1976 starring Michael York and Jenny Agutter, but the plot was modified placing them within a domed city after some unspecified apocalypse, and the age limit is raised to 30.

I just learned that Logan’s Run – The Series will be [sfs=1186]released on DVD April 10th, 2012[/sfs]. I’ve long thought that this series might never make it to DVD – it wasn’t particularly good and it didn’t last long, but it is one I remember as a kid. But it seems that slowly they are bringing out pretty much everything.

If you don’t quite remember the series, I did a Retro Review of it four years ago. I may just have to get the DVD set and re-review it…

Yes, apparently the long, long developing Logan’s Run is still moving, albeit glacially…but the latest news is that relative newcomer Andrew Baldwin (he has written the screenplays for The West is Dead and Red Asphalt, although neither has been produced yet) has been tasked with working on the script. This follows Alex Garland, who wrote the original script and Will Beall who recently did a re-write after Nicolas Winding Refn came on board as director last February. Ryan Gosling is reportedly still signed to star, but no word on a production start yet, which is likely to be next Spring at the earliest.

Joel Silver seems to have two labors of love – big screen adaptations of Wonder Woman and Logan’s Run. We know the latest history of Wonder Woman, but that doesn’t mean someone doesn’t think they can do it right. In steps Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn – who thinks he might get the chance – “if I get Logan’s Run right.”

Refn was named director of the long-stuck project back in February, with Drive star Ryan Gosling attached as the lead.

The long on-again off-again history of the Logan’s Run remake is getting longer…Deadline is reporting that Ryan Gosling is finalizing a deal to star in the movie, with his Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn helming. Interestingly, the original book and early versions of this remake had the age at which the inhabitants of the domed city were “renewed” at 21, while the first movie changed that to 30. Gosling turned 30 back in November, so perhaps the age limit will change again…but Warner Bros has been trying to get this going for over 7 years, so I expect in a few months things will change again.

In the “I don’t think this movie is ever getting made” dept: THR’s Heat Vision blog just reported that Carl Rinsch is out as Logan’s Run helmer, now that Universal has given a go to 47 Ronin. Rinsch was attached earlier this year, following a long line over the last several years of development. Warner Bros. is currently looking for another director and say the script from Alex Garland is “strong”, so there is still a chance…