Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

The 39 Clues
11/14/08 - DreamWorks is putting a handful of projects on its high-priority list, including several SF&F movies, Variety reported.  While there are many deals still to be negotiated and many green lights yet to be handed out, the studio is expected to move quickly as it builds its Reliance-funded and Universal-distributed slate. Some movies could even go into production well ahead of DreamWorks' original fall '09 target.

Among the projects:
--Cowboys and Aliens: The large-scale comic-book adaptation is now being penned by writer-executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Star Trek, TV's Fringe), who took on the gig from Iron Man co-writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby. Imagine is producing, and director-producer Ron Howard, who remains a long shot to shoot the film, is developing the project for attached star Robert Downey Jr.

--Real Steel: A futuristic boxing movie being penned by Dante's Peak writer Les Bohem, who created and wrote the Steven Spielberg-executive-produced SCI FI Channel miniseries Taken.

--The 39 Clues: The project is a potential Spielberg directing vehicle, though it's still in script phase, with Jeff Nathanson only recently hired to adapt the first novel, The Maze of Bones, in the 10-book Clues series.

9/3/08 - Jeff Nathanson has signed on to write the screenplay for the first film installment of The 39 Clues, Scholastic Media's upcoming multi-platform children's adventure series, DreamWorks announced.  DreamWorks Studios recently acquired the movie rights from Scholastic Media to the series, which Scholastic president Deborah Forte will produce and Steven Spielberg is eyeing to direct.  The 39 Clues centers around the Cahills--the most powerful family in the world--whose source of power is a mystery that can only be unraveled by assembling 39 clues hidden around the world throughout history.  The 39 Clues launches Sept. 9 with a book, The Maze of Bones, written by Rick Riordan. A second book, One False Note, by Gordon Korman, will be published Dec. 2.  A 39 Clues online game, meanwhile, will also launch on Sept. 9.

6/25/08 - DreamWorks has acquired screen rights to The 39 Clues, a multiplatform fantasy adventure series to be launched in the fall by Scholastic Media. Steven Spielberg is eyeing the project as a directing vehicle.  The 39 Clues, which launches Sept. 9, is envisioned as a 10-book series to be released over two years. It's described as a multimedia adventure that will include a set of collectible cards and an online game that will serve as a portal as young readers try to solve a mystery.  The focus of The 39 Clues is the most powerful family in the world, the Cahills, who count Napoleon and Houdini among their relatives. Readers will be challenged to discover the source of the family's powers, revealed through 39 clues that are hidden around the world and scattered throughout history.

AlienAlmanac.com    2008