M. Night Shyamalan takes a Moby Dick-inspired idea called Lost Horizon to NBC

Yesterday it was announced that Lynne Ramsay (WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN) will be co-writing and directing a sci-fi flick called MOBIUS that takes the classic tale of Moby Dick and launches it into the far reaches of space.  Today it has been announced that M. Night Shyamalan will be working with scribe John Glenn (EAGLE EYE) to develop a TV series titled “Lost Horizon” that takes the classic tale of Moby Dick and launches it… over to “a small fishing village on the East Coast.”  Plot details are of course being kept well under wraps, but the story is said to deal with “obsession and the unknown.”  Now I’m not going to argue with or make fun of that (very vague) plot/tone synopsis, as it completely makes sense and I can already see some interesting possiblities arising from it.

The project comes with a “put-pilot,” which means that the pilot must be aired on television and   that NBC will have to pay out to Shyamalan and Glenn even if they choose not to air the remaining eipsodes.  A similar situation has actually been applied to Shyamalan’s other foray into the world of telivision, the SyFy-based “Proof.” Another similarity the two projects bear is that Shymalan is attached to direct both of their pilots, so they have that going for them.  Sort of.

Hopefully we’ll have more updates on both of the projects soon in terms of casting and a potential timeline regarding when they’ll air.  Meanwhile, Shyamalan’s next feature film effort AFTER EARTH (which was directed but not written by him) is scheduled to hit on June 7th, 2013.