If any writers out there are feeling eager to dust off that old studio pitch — the one you last gained hope in when “Ouija” was announced — it might just be time for a revival, because today Warner Bros. has added a gallon of kerosene to the argument that they'll take anything nowadays.
Deadline reports WB has purchased a sci-fi pitch about a race of rapidly-evolving dinosaurs attacking Los Angeles, and while the temptation is to imagine a nine-year-old in an oversized suit, pitching his previous night's dream to studio execs in a McDonald's ball pit, the reality is much more sobering: It is actually John Clisham, a senior member of James Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment and recent “Titanic 3D” employee, that developed the pitch and brought it to the studio. Clisham plans to direct a script written by him and co-writer/producer Mike Bayman, and while plot details are scarce, grab two friends, some dinosaur action figures, and a street and you'll be close.
Decrying a studio's derivative decisions is futile, as it always has been, and so the focus should move to the project's execution instead, rather than the concept. Who didn't perk up just a little bit when Peter Berg was attached to direct “Battleship,” hinting at a more enticing project than the still-pointless and loud film it ended up being? For genre tentpoles such as these, hand the reins over to an interesting filmmaker and chances are better, as “The Avengers” has critically shown, but since even Spielberg somewhat dropped the ball on his dino metropolis pic in '97, the odds remain slim for a quality result. Still, we're always open to a pleasant genre surprise.
More snarky than usual. Most impressive.