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.”