Alternate Universes, Renegade Space Pirates, And A Madman Bent On Destroying A World?? Bring It On!!

Merrick here...
Shekhar Kapur, who recently wrote and directed ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE has set his sights on developing & directing LARKLIGHT for Warner Bros. He'll work alongside EASTERN PROMISES scripter Steven Knight to adapt Philip Reeve's novel.

The 2006 book, set in a Victorian-era alternate universe in which mankind has been exploring the solar system since the time of Isaac Newton, revolves around a brother and sister who team with a band of renegade space pirates to save the world from destruction at the hands of a madman.

...says THIS ARTICLE in Hollywood Reporter. Sounds like my kind of insanity. I was saying to someone the other day that we're overdue for a really cool space movie...maybe this'll be it? I'm referring to something newish...not pre-established universe like TREK. Larklighter isn't the only genre project Kapur has in the works - he's also developing Paani, which HR describes as...

...a futuristic film set in Mumbai centering on the scarcity of water.

In the past, this theme hasn't worked out so well. I remember SOLARBABIES and ICE PIRATES...do you?