For some time now, Andy and Lana (formerly Larry) Wachowski have been busy bringing David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas to the big screen. Development on that, if you haven’t been keeping up, has been sounding pretty awesome. That’s still a ways off but the duo has more than one supposed ace up their sleeve. As they’ve made their fame and fortune with the sci-fi epic The Matrix and to some extent the sequels (hey, I love Reloaded and will defend the heck out of it) the siblings’ script for Jupiter Ascending has just been picked up by long time backer Warner Brothers. Jupiter is slated to begin production sometime in the Spring of next year.
Currently this is all just in the initial phase so, as you can expect, next to nothing has been revealed about plot and mum is definitely the word de jour. WB is supposedly looking for an A-list star for the lead but without any details this is sadly nothing more than a nebulous announcement. But if two projects aren’t enough, the siblings are trying to get a third idea off the ground. They have quietly been crafting their Robin Hood-esqe project called Cobalt Neural 9 and from what we’ve heard recently (thanks to Deadline) it will be a hard-R drama yet it’s having funding trouble as the story is about a homosexual relationship between an American soldier and Iraqi citizen.
So with, at best, three balls in the air the Wachowskis are going to throw a lot at the wall (well screen really). I sure home something sticks because I for one have been looking for the day when the Wachowskis will again be Hollywood titans…and three chances at a come back are better than one dontcha think? So let me ask you: Any of these ideas sound like they’ll be a hit? Anyone think their time has passed??
5 Comments
Andrew
Are these guys even relevant anymore? At all? I know they made The Matrix in ’99, and it’s still an iconic film, but everything they’ve touched since then has ranged in quality from mediocre to straight-up dreadful. (Well, Speed Racer had some merit…) I’m kind of at a place where whenever these two announce a project I shrug and get on with my life.
Did they supernova too soon in their careers? I get this unshakable sense that they’re just parodying themselves in everything they’ve done post-’99.
MarcC
The Matrix is a tough act to follow. Not sure anyone expected it to be as huge as it was which is probably why parts II and III didn’t seem as good. I bet a lot off pressure was on them and they rushed to get something out there when the studio (and audiences) inevitably started to ask “so what else you got?”
Those two and Shaylaman really need a hit again.
Sir Phobos
I much prefer them in producing roles. In that capacity, they gave us V for Vendetta and Ninja Assassin. That’s 2 for 2.
Andrew
I’m surprised to see any love for Ninja Assassin, which is visually incomprehensible. V is more reasonable but even that movie has its thematic issues.
MarcC
Yeah I’m not fond of that in the least. Incomprehensible is a good superlative, I think it takes too much brain power to say or spell. Shorten it to crap and it gets the same message across.