Prometheus screenwriter Jon Spaihts has been hired to try to revive Disney’s long-gestating remake of their 1979 sci-fi film, The Black Hole, which has Joseph Kosinski attached to direct, according to THR.
The project was first put into development back in 2009, when Joseph Kosinski was still prepping his directorial debut, Tron: Legacy. Travis Beacham (Pacific Rim) wrote the first draft of the script, although since them there hasn’t been much info on the film.
The Black Hole was the most expensive film Disney had ever made at the time. It starred the likes Anthony Perkins, Robert Forster, and Ernest Borgnine as a group of space explorers who find a ship dubbed the USS Cygnus right the edge a black hole. Once they board the mysterious vessel, they find a mad scientist (Maximilian Schell) whose crew has abandoned him – so he lives surrounded by robots – but he believes he’s on the verge of a tremendous discovery.
The new take is said to be more philosophical and has a darker tone. It’s a movie that could be well worth remaking, as the original was limited by the special effects of the time, and also couldn’t help shoving in a Disney-fied robots that doesn’t quite fit with the rest of the film. Hopefully Spaihts will find a way to make it work.