Sci-Fi Storm

Never give up, never surrender!

The Galaxy Quest series based on the 1999 movie has been in development for a while at Paramount, with Amazon signing on for distribution, but plans took a hit when Alan Rickman, who played Alexander Dane/Dr. Lazarus in the movie, passed away in January of 2016.

Now it seems things are picking up again, with the series still set for Amazon, with The League star and occasional writer Paul Scheer working on a script based on a new take for the series. No word on whether this version will feature any of the original cast. Mark Johnson is still attached as a producer.

Paramount won the rights earlier this year to what is considered one of the best science fiction novels, [asin=1876963468]The Stars My Destination[/asin] by Alfred Bester, and now has gotten development under way by giving the pen to David DiGilio (Warrior).

DiGilio had also been tied to Disney’s Tron: Legacy sequel at one point, until that project got shelved earlier this year.

The novel (better known in the UK as “Tiger! Tiger!”) deals with a lot of science fiction elements as it tells the story of Gulliver “Gully” Foyle, a man who is marooned is space for six months as the sole survivor of a merchant spaceship and becomes consumed with rage when a passing ship ignores his signals. He manages to repair the ship but is then captured and tatooed with a tiger mask on his face. He later escapes and has the tatoos removed – but it is only partially successful, with the scars appearing when he becomes enraged. He then embarks on a quest for revenge for those who left him to die.

Paramount has been digging deep in the archives looking for properties that it might be able to turn into TV shows (can’t we get some original ideas guys?), and it appears they may have found a nugget in the form of Galaxy Quest, the 1999 DreamWorks spoof about the stars of a long-canceled SF TV show being taken by aliens to help them against a malevolent enemy.

Nellie Andreeva at Deadline reports that Paramount is developing Galaxy Quest for the small screen, with original feature writer Robert Gordon, director Dean Parisot and producer Mark Johnson all on board to executive produce, with Gordon also expected to write the pilot.

Paramount is seeking rights to produce a movie based on Alfred Bester’s novel [asin=1876963468]The Stars My Destination[/asin], for Mary Parent (Pacific Rim) to produce.

Widely considered one of the best novels in science fiction (in the U.K. it is better known as Tiger! Tiger!), it tells the story of Gulliver Foyle, a man who is marooned is space for six months as the sole survivor of a merchant spaceship and becomes consumed with rage when a passing ship ignores his signals. He repairs the ship but is then captured and tatooed with a tiger mask on his face. He later escapes and has the tatoos removed – but it is only partially successful, with the scars appearing when he becomes enraged. He then embarks on a quest for revenge for those who left him to die.

Like many of the top novels in the genre, it may be a longshot for it to ever get to the screen (and like them there have been many failed attempts), but we can dream…

In a further consolidation of distribution and marketing rights from studios it has acquired in recent years, Disney has reached an agreement with Paramount to acquire the rights for any future Indiana Jones films – not that they’ve announced any plans for them.

Paramount retains the distribution rights for the existing films and will receive a cut of future ones.

Disney and Paramount reached similar agreements over Iron Man 3 and The Avengers after Disney acquired Marvel.

Now with Lucasfilm, Disney will produce, distribute and market all future Star Wars and Indiana Jones films. Does this mean we will see more Indy? Well, right now Disney seems to have all of the Lucasfilm guns aimed at Star Wars Episode VII as well as a couple ancillary Star Wars films and a new upcoming animated series, Star Wars: Rebels, and they haven’t announced anything for the future of Indy, but it seems an unusual deal if Disney didn’t plan on doing something, since it only applies to future productions. So it seems likely we’ll be hearing something in the near future…

The long-languishing Dune remake that’s been simmering at Paramount for several years may get permanently shelved. Deadline reports the clock is ticking on the rights, with a production start date required to be set by next Spring. And part of the problem is that all the rights holders need to agree on various aspects of the production – like a director. First Peter Berg walked away after heading the initial development to make Battleship instead, and it is possible that Pierre Morel has also stepped down.

Disney’s first major benefit of acquiring Marvel may be in the distribution rights to the upcoming Marvel films The Avengers and Iron Man 3, with Paramount assigning the rights to Disney for a guaranteed minimum up front of $115 million against the distribution fees. Paramount will retain the rights on Thor and Captain America.