Back in July word came in that Warner Bros. was fashioning a futuristic spin on Alexandre Dumas THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO. At the time, Ian Shorr’s pitch was really all the studio had, and while a director is still yet to be attached, it looks like a scribe has been settled upon.
Deadline reports that “Burn Notice” co-exec producer Craig O’Neill is set to loosely adapt Dumas’ tale to the sci-fi realm. Although primarily writing for TV (“Burn Notice”, “Cold Case”, “Justice”), O’Neill recently wrote a Robocop style project TIN MAN for USA and Fox TV.
As for COUNT, it goes like so:
Wrongfully imprisoned for fourteen years, Edmond Dantes escapes to the island of Monte Cristo. What awaits him there is a fortune in gold-and a new identity with which to pursue his revenge and redemption.
A sci-fi revenge yarn doesn’t sound bad on the surface, but something so classic as COUNT seems a bit out of place in the future doesn’t it? Mash-ups are all the rage these days, so maybe a competent enough director will come along and do something worthwhile. You think that’s probable?
Dagmara Dominczyk starred in the 2002 version of CRISTO