It looks like director Denis Villeneuve has found his next film project, and as we expected, it’s not Dune: Messiah.
Legendary Entertainment has picked up feature film rights to a nonfiction book from author Annie Jacobsen titled Nuclear War: A Scenario, and this may very well end up being Villeneuve’s next big project.
The book was released last month and it examines the nuclear military establishment. Villeneuve is currently in talks with Legendary to be involved in the project, which could include serving as producer, writer an/or director. His longtime producing partner Tanya Lapointe would be involved as well.
While they are ironing out this deal, Villeneuve and Legendary are developing a third movie in his Dune series, but he’s said several times so far, that Dune: Messiah will not be his next film, as he wants to step away from the franchise and do something else before he jumps back into it.
The director previously teased his potential future projects saying: “I have four projects on the table, currently. One of them is a secret project that I cannot talk about right now, but that needs to see the light of day quite quickly.”
He added: “So it would be a good idea to do something in between projects, before tackling Dune Messiah and Cleopatra. All these projects are still being written, so we’ll see where they go, but I have no control over that.”
Nuclear War sounds like a fascinating project, and it’s one that Villeneuve could stunningly bring to life on the big screen. The description of the book reads: “There is only one scenario other than an asteroid strike that could end the world as we know it in a matter of hours: nuclear war. And one of the triggers for that war would be a nuclear missile inbound toward the United States.”
It continues: “Every generation, a journalist has looked deep into the heart of the nuclear military establishment: the technologies, the safeguards, the plans, and the risks. These investigations are vital to how we understand the world we really live in—where one nuclear missile will beget one in return, and where the choreography of the world’s end requires massive decisions made on seconds’ notice with information that is only as good as the intelligence we have.”
Nuclear War: A Scenario “explores this ticking-clock scenario, based on dozens of exclusive new interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, have been privy to the response plans, and have been responsible for those decisions should they have needed to be made. Nuclear War: A Scenario examines the handful of minutes after a nuclear missile launch.”
That sounds like it will make a terrifying movie. What do you think about Villeneuve possibly taking it on as his next film project? It’s like this could be a follow-up to Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.
Source: THR
