Merrick here...

Okay, so this isn't exactly "news"...at least not in the traditional sense...

Last week, a Black Hole-themed Stephen Spielberg project was announced, and Geeks to the farthest reaches of the Earth swooned dreamily.

That news started me thinking: what about that Danny Boyle (TRAINSPOTTING, SHALLOW GRAVE, 28 DAYS LATER) movie that went into production a while back...the one almost no one has been reporting on? Its website has been quietly active for some time, dutifully archiving the trials and tribulations of producing an intense space drama called SUNSHINE.

Alas, SUNSHINE has been soooooooo stealthy in its formation that many have forgotten about it completely.

Ironically, we received an e-mail this morning indicating the site has now been updated with a clips from the movie -- an exclusive first look. The film is about a space mission (to save the sun) that goes terribly, terribly wrong, and stars Rose Byrne, Cillian Murphy, and Michelle Yeoh.

At one point, I believe the plans were to spin SUNSHINE as a deep-space riff on WAGES OF FEAR (or, SORCERER if you prefer). I.e. the crew has to get to the Sun with cargo that's increasingly dangerous as it gets closer to the sun...or something like that. This being said, I can't find any indication of this intent -- so the project may have evolved since its inception.

Anyway, while I'm not 100% certain of the film's dramatics (some of the dialogue featured in this clip seems a tad stilted and expository), the film looks pretty hard core on the scientific front & might be kind of fun.

CLICK HERE to check it out - the footage launches as soon as the page loads! I'm digging those FORBIDDEN PLANET-esque tonalities that show-up towards the end of the preview.

At the very least, the site is a mighty impressive repository of production information.

At the moment, SUNSHINE is slated for a March 16, 2007 release.