Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

After Earth (aka One Thousand A.E.)

7/2/12 – Blastr.com reported the synopsis for After Earth.  In After Earth, one thousand years after cataclysmic events forced humanity's escape from Earth, Nova Prime has become mankind's new home. Legendary General Cypher Raige (played by Will Smith) returns from an extended tour of duty to his estranged family, ready to be a father to his 13-year-old son, Kitai (played by Jaden Smith). When an asteroid storm damages Cypher and Kitai's craft, they crash-land on a now unfamiliar and dangerous Earth. As his father lies dying in the cockpit, Kitai must trek across the hostile terrain to recover their rescue beacon. His whole life, Kitai has wanted nothing more than to be a soldier like his father. Today, he gets his chance.

2/27/12 - Sony Pictures’ After Earth has gone into production with director M. Night Shyamalan using the F65, a new camera technology, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  After Earth is being filmed by director of photography Peter Suschitzky.  The F65 camera is built with an 8K sensor and capable of handling 16-bit 4K and higher-resolution imagery.

1/4/12 - Isabelle Fuhrman is in negotiations to join After Earth, Columbia’s sci-fi action adventure movie starring Will Smith and son Jaden Smith, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  M. Night Shyamalan is directing the pic, which had previously been titled 1000 A.E. The story is set in a future in which humans no longer live on Earth after it becomes inhospitable. The elder Smith is playing a hero, while Jaden is his son, considered a failure as a warrior. When the two crash-land on Earth, it's up to the son to save the dad.  Fuhrman will play Jaden Smith character’s friend Rayna.  After Earth is due to begin shooting in March in locations in Pennsylvania and Utah. The project has a release date penciled for June 2013. Zoe Kravitz and Sophie Okonedo also are in the cast.

11/10/11 – Variety reported that Stephen Gaghan has completed a polish of Sony Pictures and Overbrook Entertainment's futuristic sci-fi film One Thousand A.E., which will be directed by M. Night Shyamalan.  Shyamalan rewrote the screenplay to fit his needs, but Gaghan was tasked with getting the script in shooting shape. Will and Jaden Smith are set to star as a father and son who crash-land on Earth one thousand years after mankind has abandoned the planet. The crash leaves the elder Smith badly injured, and it's up to the boy to find help in what is now a strange and dangerous place.  Shyamalan and Will Smith are producing with the latter's Overbrook partners James Lassiter, Ken Stovitz and Jada Pinkett Smith.

4/4/11 - Jaden Smith is set to star opposite his father, Will Smith, for director M. Night Shyamalan in an untitled sci-fi adventure, Doug Belgrad, president of Columbia Pictures, announced Monday.  The project was called One Thousand AE.  Set 1,000 years into the future, the movie centers on a young boy who navigates an abandoned and sometimes scary Earth to save himself and his estranged father after their ship crashes.  Shyamalan and Will Smith will produce with James Lassiter, Jada Pinkett Smith and Ken Stovitz, Smith’s partners at Overbrook Entertainment. The screenplay is by M. Night Shyamalan and Gary Whitta.  Shyamalan said, "The chance to make a scary, science-fiction film starring Jaden and Will is my dream project."

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