It appears Walt Disney Pictures is getting into the live-action franchise biz, as Deadline reports the studio just bought a pitch called THE RUNNER, which Brian Grazer will help produce. You intrigued?!?
Maybe this will help. The idea was hatched by TV scribe Dave Andron (“Knight Rider,” “Justified”), and Marc Forster (MONSTER’S BALL, STAY, QUANTUM OF SOLACE) is being courted to helm what could be a mega sci-fi franchise. Makes sense for Forster, not only schedule wise, but his Apparatus Entertainment partner Brad Simpson is also producing.
Here’s the skinny: In the year 2027, Earth’s surface has been left unlivable after a devastating attack. A band of survivors taking refuge in the Rocky Mountains have developed a method of time travel. As one of the survivors volunteer to be sent back in time, he departs with apparent intentions of trying to stop the destructive attack, but it turns out he has an ulterior motive: to save the love of his life.
With Grazer at the helm of a first look deal, the plan is to appropriate THE RUNNER into multimedia platforms, including TV series, videogames, graphic novels and other interactive avenues to be made available on various mobile devices.
For Disney, this marks the second epic-in-scale post-apocalyptic yarn, behind Joseph Kominski’s OBLIVION.
As for Forster, the dude is easily one of the most diverse filmmakers currently working. Consider his resume: EVERYTHING PUT TOGETHER, MONSTER’S BALL, FINDING NEVERLAND, STAY, STRANGER THAN FICTION, THE KITE RUNNER, QUANTUM OF SOLACE, and has MACHINE GUN PREACHER in post-production. A great choice for Disney, as the dude’s obviously capable of doing big scale action work as well as small scale drama. Hopefully the studio gives the man carte blanche to do his damn thing…
Michelle Monaghan, star of Forster’s MACHINE GUN PREACHER!