Writing an Ocean

Considering the dozens upon dozens of comic properties that were optioned for film in the past decade but will never hit theaters, it’s good to know that one of the better ones is inching closer to reality.

Warren Ellis’ extremely cool comic OCEAN got grabbed last year by production company Hollywood Gang (some of the many people behind 300), and they’ve got a writer now chipping away on the script. Relative newcomer Ryan Condal is working on bringing the deep-space thriller to life — hopefully it’ll actually get into the production pipeline.

The story follows a UN weapons inspector dispatched to Jupiter, where a research team has found some interesting things under an icy moon’s surface: coffins containing a slumbering humanoid race, and weapons capable of planetary destruction. Further complicating matters are a glitchy corporate rival, and the fact that the aliens appear to be awakening.

Hollywood Gang is also working on an adaptation of Frank Miller’s RONIN.