Almost 70 years after its release, Forbidden Planet is getting remade. Deadline reports that Warner Bros. has hired producer Emma Watts and screenwriter (and comic book creator) Brian K. Vaughan to create what they call a “revisionist” take on the class film.
The original film was written by Cyril Hume, based on a story by Allen Adler and Irving Block, and based loosely on The Tempest. As Kali Wallace wrote for her Science Fiction Movie Club series, “Its impact is so widespread, its influence so lasting and profound, that there are elements of it everywhere you look: Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, the films of James Cameron and Ridley Scott, and so much more.”
As Deadline notes, James Cameron himself once reportedly considered tackling a remake, but one obstacle was a complicated rights situation. That’s apparently been sorted by Warner Bros. and longtime producer/former studio head Watts, who previously worked for Fox and Paramount.
For his part, Brian K. Vaughan has a long and impressive SFF resume, from writing Saga to writing for Lost. Three of his comic series have, in recent years, been adapted into TV series: Runaways, Paper Girls, and Y: The Last Man. In 2021, he was reported to be writing a Gundam movie for Netflix and director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, but there hasn’t been any news on that project since.
No casting or release date has been announced for Forbidden Planet.
