Dune writer Jon Spaihts is developing a new live-action sci-fi project for LAIKA, the studio behind Coraline, ParaNorman, and Kubo and the Two Strings. Spaihts will both write and direct the new project, which will tell “the tale of a woman investigating a mystery that took place during a week she cannot remember.” There is no title for the project yet, but it is one of several new live-action projects that LAIKA is developing.
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“This is an original passion project I’ve been eager to turn to for a while, and I couldn’t ask for better partners,” Jon Spaihts said in a statement. “LAIKA has a clear creative vision, and a tradition of meticulous, bespoke storytelling that suits this project very well.”
Laika’s President, Live Action Film & Series, Matt Levin, released his own statement, saying that the studio “has long admired Jon’s iconic work as a screenwriter. He is one of the most imaginative and inventive storytellers working today, and we’re honored to partner with him as he brings his unique vision and soul to the director’s chair for the first time with a wholly original idea that is as thought-provoking as it is moving.”
Jon Spaihts’ list of credits includes the scrips for Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, Marvel’s Doctor Strange, and both of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movies – which have all come to be regarded as some of the better new entries in long-established franchises. He also wrote Alex Kurtzman’s (Star Trek) 2016 sci-fi movie Passengers, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt. That film eraned $300 million on a budget of $150M, which was respectable for an original sci-fi film; even though it wasn’t a critical hit, Passengers earned a solid cult following for the twists of the story and the solid blend of sci-fi and romance drama.
LAIKA has released five stop-motion animated features since 2009 – Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Missing Link. The latter film was a major misstep for LAIKA, as Missing Link was the most expensive stop-motion film ever made ($100M) but only grossed $26.6M. That said, that “failure” still earned LAIKA a Golden Globe for Best Animate Feature film, as well as an Oscar nomination.
Live action will obviously be a very different animal for LAIKA to tame; along with this Jon Spaihts movie, there are two other LAIKA live-action projects (Crumble, Seventeen) also in development.
