DARK ENGINE
SCREENPLAY
A ‘Hitchcock in space’ sci-fi noir about a grieving smuggler caught between mortal enemies in the dying days of a bitter war. First of a planned trilogy.
Galluzzo and I took a deep dive into the voice of noir when building this world. Think gruff voices, anti-heroes and double-crosses aboard space vessels that are more like WW2 submarines than the sleek liners of Star Trek.
The project is building up a real head of steam: Production Designer Frank Walsh (‘Inception’) designed blueprints for the hero spaceship; VFX Supervisor Frank Schlegel (‘Grand Budapest Hotel’) has broken down and budgeted 350 VFX shots; Fully scheduled and budgeted below-the-line for a 40-day shoot. You can see a concept trailer for the first film here.
It’s also received a lot of heat on The Hollywood Blacklist, a summary of which is below:
“Great premise, fun action, clever plotting, interesting characters, and epic world creation.”
“Every scene is full of suspense and intrigue created by characters who are always questionably motivated.”
“Every character is complex and sympathetic.”
“This is a great vehicle for a strong dramatic actor, and could be a great sci-fi thriller.”
“Entertaining script with strong writing that should easily garner attention from the large sci-fi action audience.”