Joseph Kosinski Talks About His Remake Of The Black Hole
Tronisn’t the only classic Disney property to be revitalized byJoseph Kosinski. After he finishesTron Legacy, Kosinski will turn to a new version ofThe Black Hole. (As a producer,possiblyas director.) The 1979 original was the most expensive film Disney had made at the time, and pioneered the use of computer graphics and electronic music. As a response to2001andStar Warsthe movie was a commercial failure, but it has an enduring legacy thanks to some timeless production design and effects work, not to mention the nightmarish ending.
So what will Kosinksi’s version be like?
MTVtalked to the director, who says the film will not be a sequel. “This one will be a reimagining,” he says. “For me, it would be taking ideas and iconic elements that struck me as timeless and cool and preserving them while weaving a new story around them that’s a little more ‘2001.”
So what stays? The iconic red robot Maximilian, for one. The character originally played by Anthony Perkins will meet the same (or a similar) fate at the robot’s hands. And the basic design of the Cygnus, the mammoth ship upon which most of the action takes place, will be seen once again.
More promising is a statement that seems to augur a serious science fiction approach:
From a conceptual point of view, we know so much more about black holes now, the crazy things that go on as you approach them due to the intense gravitational pull and the effects on time and space. All that could provide us with some really cool film if we embrace it in a hard science way.
The original film ended with the Cygnus breaking up and passing through the black hole, which led to visions of hell and heaven. Maximilian Schell’s character, the antagonistic Doctor Hans Reinhardt, ends up merged with the robot Maximilian, seemingly trapped in a hellish landscape partially of his own creation.
The script hasn’t yet been written. WhileTravis Beachamhas been known as the screenwriter since the project wasfirst announced, he won’t yet start writing the script until some point in the next couple months.
