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

Published at:  Apr 01, 2008 9:25:43 AM CDT


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?

















    + Expand All

    Readers Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 9:15:09 AM CDT

    I take exception to that remark

    by lone_wolf_mcquaalude

    'Ice Pirates' was awesome, just awesome

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 9:16:41 AM CDT

    Stupid steampunk B.S....

    by kid z

    ...they'll at least capture the fat goth chick demographic.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 9:19:09 AM CDT

    Why does this sound like an April Fools prank?

    by bobinnova

  • Apr 01, 2008 9:19:23 AM CDT

    "We're overdue for a really cool space movie."

    by cutest_of_borg

    Um...Star Trek IS coming next summer, ya know. I'm sure THAT will be the definitive "space movie."

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 9:22:07 AM CDT

    There's a surprise

    by thefrood

    2 posts in and already someone's slagging an idea they know very little about.

    Is it any wonder we keep getting re-makes and sequels when potentially interesting ideas, picked up by quality directors are immediately pissed on by "fan-boys".

    Fans of what exactly? All I hear round here is bitching.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 9:32:58 AM CDT

    Piltdown...

    by kid z

    ...not to mention the purveyors of moldy, motheaten old clothes and used Bauhaus CDs.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 9:33:18 AM CDT

    ICE PIRATES!

    by travis-dane

    Hilarious movie!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 9:35:54 AM CDT

    Frood, not saying it's necessarily a bad idea...

    by kid z

    ... just a silly one that Hollywood will eff up even further.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 9:36:39 AM CDT

    Reminds me of...

    by docpazuzu

    ...that cool RPG from the late 1980s called Space: 1889 where the European colonial powers compete for their stake in the solar system. It was completely mad, with steam-powered spaceships, muskets and other awesome stuff. I approve.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 9:45:31 AM CDT

    Tank Girl?

    by john truckosaur

    Water scarcity is clearly an awesome premise for a film.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 9:46:03 AM CDT

    Cool!!

    by waldo

    Ice Pirates is a forgotten classic!
    o.k. maybe not, but it is a pretty funny movie. Robert Urich R.I.P.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 9:50:04 AM CDT

    Ice Pirates!

    by kafka07

    look out for the space herpes!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 9:52:23 AM CDT

    Kid Z

    by thefrood

    Optimism brother. Let's enjoy the possibility of it being great before they screw it up.

    Sorry... I just got finished watching the US versus John Lennon and it let the hippy out of me.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 9:57:30 AM CDT

    Everything sounds like an April Fool's prank

    by silentp

    It's April Fool's Day.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 10:02:36 AM CDT

    Steampunk rules...

    by roguewarrior65

    We've spent too many years on the floating battleship in space look and feel. Give me more Jules Verneian art direction.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 10:07:05 AM CDT

    SOLARBABIES WAS GENIUS

    by kgerm

    Jamie Gertz and Lukas Haas at their best. Or not. But still the guiltiest of pleasures.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 10:11:05 AM CDT

    As long as the rocket ships look like rockets!

    by stereotypical evil archer

  • Apr 01, 2008 10:20:06 AM CDT

    Sounds Golden Compassy

    by rev_skarekroe

    'Course I didn't read Golden Compass OR this story, so what do I know?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 10:23:25 AM CDT

    Bombay

    by steve_dooku

    Why did they change the name of the city from Bombay to Mumbai?
    Did it just track better? Was there a contest?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 10:24:51 AM CDT

    Alternate timelines?

    by monkey butler

    I never understood the point of having films set in "an alternate Elizabethan age" or "a time when the Industrial Revolution never happened" or whatever. It seems to me that it just confuses the point of what you're making, and makes everyone pay more attention to the art design than the rest of the film. Really, what's the difference between a story where mankind has been in space since Newton and a story set 500 years in the future where mankind has been in space since the 20th century? If the point of the story is being in space (as opposed to the Newton bit) why confuse the issue?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 10:27:31 AM CDT

    "The ships got herpies."

    by therealumlaut

  • Apr 01, 2008 10:33:03 AM CDT

    Solarbabies - good idea bad execution.

    by yeti

    Weren't they zipping around in rollar skates too?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 10:35:07 AM CDT

    Because, Monkey Butler...

    by docpazuzu

    ...it's COOL.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 10:52:01 AM CDT

    Space Pirates?!

    by tvspace

    Sorry, this just isn't my cup of tea. Unless we can get an update to Serenity my interest is swashbuckling space adventurers is done.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 10:57:24 AM CDT

    Nah

    by cuervojones

    Next candidate, please.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 11:05:14 AM CDT

    Monkey Butler

    by troutmaskreplicant

    Interesting point, I was just considering the problem recently of alternative universes in film. They really work better in novels, comics/graphic fiction and occasionally in TV because you have the space to go into detail. But of course, why ignore set design and background detail? Would anyone have gone to see Star Wars if it had been played out like Dogville and people had to use their imagination?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 11:17:29 AM CDT

    sounds like possibilities..

    by rosebuddy

    with 200 mil for Larklight.Let's hope. And I get tired of it, when Science Fiction fanboys scream nitpicking when things in the stories don't go EXACTLY like they're supposed to according to today's theories in physics and begin screaming PLOT DEVICE! PLOT DEVICE! Hate to break it to 'em, but Science Fiction's
    itself, is indeed a PLOT DEVICE.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 11:21:23 AM CDT

    This is why I hate April Fools

    by godmars

    Sometimes you just don't know what is real and what isn't. Hey, WTF doesn't John Adams have a talkback?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 11:40:21 AM CDT

    no subject

    by automaton overlord

    Solar Babies and Ice pirates are better than about 75% of the films that come out every year. That's not too bad really.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 11:44:53 AM CDT

    Rose Buddy

    by thefrood

    "Science Fiction's itself, is indeed a PLOT DEVICE."

    Now that... is brilliant.

    Well done sir!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 12:03:12 PM CDT

    Aren't space pirates by their very nature renegades?

    by fred

    So renegade space pirates would be space cops or space hall monitors or space meter maids or something.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 12:16:03 PM CDT

    SAVE US BUCKAROO BANZAI!!!

    by alice 13

    and remember, no matter where you go, there you are!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 12:16:06 PM CDT

    Ice Pirates was fucking AWESOME!

    by largojr

    The ship has... Space Herpes...

    Jethro man... you're lookin BAD

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 12:30:05 PM CDT

    Tank Girl

    by bagheera

    Showering in white powder=not hot

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 12:38:33 PM CDT

    thefrood

    by rosebuddy

    TY. If, it is an April Fools joke....at least, I got that off my chest ;)

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 12:50:10 PM CDT

    watch where you tread merrick . . .

    by cathartist

    You just named two of my all time favorite guilty pleasures. I own both of those movies on VHS and they were a STAPLE of my childhood. Solarbabies and Ice Pirates are 80's B movie classics!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 12:51:42 PM CDT

    Read the book and its sequel

    by ilander66

    and they are really good, very inventive even in a genre that can get quite tired. the books are full of really nice illustrations done in a victorian style. Hopefully one day someone like Zemeckis will do Reeves other book series that start with Mortal Engines which are amazing, but need that unlimited imagination / budget style that mo-cap is going for at the moment.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 1:46:12 PM CDT

    WTF Moment of the Year...

    by kid z

    ...Bauhaus reforms and releases its first new album in over 25 years... huh?!!?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 1:57:20 PM CDT

    Monkey Butler

    by fluffyunbound

    The only way I see it being justified if it's not really an alternate history, but an alternate cosmology. In other words, if the film is set in the solar system as it would exist if all the falsehoods that were believed about space in Newton's time were actually true. So instead of space being a vacuum, it's filled with ether, and so forth. There was a fun alternate cosmology novel called "Celestial Matters" which is set in a universe where the things the ancient Greeks thought about physics were actually true, and where a "space program" to reach the various spheres holding the planets is underway. That would make a fun Gilliamesque film.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 1:59:30 PM CDT

    OK, I just clicked the Amazon link and

    by fluffyunbound

    ...apparently this IS an alternate cosmology, so it is in fact quite different than just having the space program start early.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 2:03:54 PM CDT

    Damn straight I remember Ice pirates and solarbabies!

    by theonecalledshoe

    hi-yahh!!!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 2:27:50 PM CDT

    Firefly with the Sodden Nancy Tribe

    by buffywrestling

    I say, I reckon!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 4:28:04 PM CDT

    Not familiar with the book, but this smells like

    by kabong

    steampunk space pirate TEEEEEEEEEEEENS

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 4:38:29 PM CDT

    Monkey Butler, I agree...

    by warghost

    I don't think a movie maker should try to convince an audience that we're in the distant future, AND that we're following an alternate time line. It takes too long and too much effort to establish a substantial back story. It can't usually be done properly in a 2-hour long movie.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 4:41:50 PM CDT

    Ice Pirates kicks ass!!

    by finky089

  • Apr 01, 2008 4:50:09 PM CDT

    If Stardust couldn't appease the masses

    by detective_fingerling

    there is no way that this will.

    Stupid Victorian era. Go somewhere with your lace!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 5:11:35 PM CDT

    Remember when SKY CAPTAIN was the future of movies?

    by drath

    I guess it still is in it's way, but honestly movies that step outside of pre-existing franchises are not rewarded with big Box Office, and the suits hate that. Also I don't think retro-period-pieces in space are appreciated much by average movie-goers either (Serenity for example). But hey, give it a try. At worst, we get another let down turkey we'll just have to forget.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 6:19:57 PM CDT

    Sounds pretty shitty

    by jkrow21

    Victorian era? Gay.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 7:05:59 PM CDT

    even tho its not made, the movie has made all the money its goin

    by ironic_name

  • Apr 01, 2008 7:10:36 PM CDT

    Space 1889

    by mr willi

    There was a roleplaying game with this very same premise released back in the 80s. Still, cool idea, even if it was plagiarized...

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 7:36:25 PM CDT

    Biggs Larklighter?

    by napoleon park

    I thought he died on the attack on the Death Star.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 8:55:51 PM CDT

    Why not Ninja Space Pirates

    by messi

    that would be awesome.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 10:36:14 PM CDT

    Steampunk is so fucking played out

    by jimmy_009

    Enough of this bullshit, how about something ORIGINAL for once.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 11:00:32 PM CDT

    I'd rather c GRIMJACK or SPACE 1889 as films...

    by lynxpro

    I'm sure I'm not alone in such sentiments.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 11:03:30 PM CDT

    ...or live-action Thundarr the Barbarian...

    by lynxpro

    ...or a re-imagining of *Yor* that actually works.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 2008 11:10:14 PM CDT

    I want a Discworld movie!!!!

    by pouchstalker

    Big budget and not made for tv. A planet that is a disc set upon the backs of 4 elephants atop a giant turtle.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 02, 2008 12:32:11 AM CDT

    how is steampunk played out, jimmy_009?

    by drave117

    Seriously! I want to know! Let me hear this gigantic list of the steampunk movies that are choking the film market. The closest I have ever seen to a steampunk movie is probably City of Lost Children, and that was over a decade ago. Sure, there are plenty of steampunk books and anime, but I would say as a film genre, it is woefully under-explored.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 02, 2008 12:54:40 AM CDT

    I remember Ice Pirates!

    by maniaq

    for a moment there, I thought this was going to ba an adaptation of Neal Stephenson's "The Diamond Age", but this sounds ok too.
    For some reason I'm reminded of Battle Beyond the Stars, and that reminds me of George Peppard and that reminds me of the A-Team...
    Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 02, 2008 2:08:48 AM CDT

    The Prestige was a little bit steampunk

    by gwai lo

  • Apr 02, 2008 4:02:18 AM CDT

    If the Prestige was a little bit steampunk

    by rokurgepta

    than so was the re-make of "The Time Machine"

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 02, 2008 4:06:46 AM CDT

    I agree -- I don't get the whole "Victorian steampunk/alternate

    by big dumb ape

    Generally speaking, I have to say I agree with Monkey Butler's post about alternate timeline stuff. Personally, I've never really gotten into any of it with the possible exception of some rare cases where it's centered around a strong "what if" scenario -- such as "What if Hitler had actually won WWII? What would the world be like today?" And even there, that's basically okay only because you aren't going TOO far back in history which allows people to get a grasp on things, it allows someone to more easily see what might have been because it touches on the very real world that they live in now.But when it comes to the sci-fi realm, I would agree with FluffyUnbound, too. Unless it's something set IN another universe, a true alternate cosmology, what's the point other than saying "Ooh! Wouldn't it be cool if today's airplanes were designed by Victorian era engineers? Wouldn't that make for cool looking shit?"Well, here's a news flash for you: there are sound SCIENTIFIC reasons and principles for WHY things DO look the way that they do NOW as opposed to 100 fucking years ago when things operated by steam and held together by giant oversized rivets. There are sound reasons why history DID go the way it did. It wasn't a fluke, airplanes evolved (and thus looked) the way that they did for actual technological reasons pertinent to the time they were constructed. I mean for crying out loud, just think about applying that notion to most things in life. Hey! Wouldn't it be cool if the women of today dressed in clothing designed by Victorian era fashion designers? Hmm, I tell you what -- go ask your wife or girlfriend how she'd feel about that. How she'd like putting on a corset every day, even if it was made from the lighter manufactured material of today. They'd say "Fuck you" pretty fast and...much like the analogy to planes...they'd be grateful that clothing, that the world, evolved the way that it did.But, hey, I guess since it is science fiction to each his own. But the idea of a wooden boat with sails that can now fly because it has Victorian steampunk or Titanic-like smoke stacks mounted in the rear doesn't make me think "Cool!" or make me say "Boy, if only!" -- instead it just makes me look and say "What the fuck is THAT thing? What moron actually believes that would fly?"

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 02, 2008 4:34:49 AM CDT

    ever read books by Author Harry Turtledove

    by rokurgepta

    he's all about alternative timelines

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 02, 2008 6:10:21 AM CDT

    This sounds less like an alternate timeline than fantasy.

    by rbatty024

    This doesn't sound so much like an alternate timeline book like Harry Turtledove or PKD's Man in the High Castle, but rather sounds more like fantasy set in the Victorian age rather than medieval times. Lord of the Rings is basically medieval themed so it makes sense to do something similar in Victorian times.

    The difference seems to hinge on the fact that alternate history is concerned with what is possible, while fantasy doesn't care about possibilities, it's more concerned with created a new world, even if that world shares a few things in common with ours.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 02, 2008 6:30:48 AM CDT

    my favorite Harry Turtledove book is...

    by rokurgepta

    The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump
    I wish that would be made into a film

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 02, 2008 7:35:33 AM CDT

    If it's as 'good' as Elizabeth: The Golden Age

    by metaluna

    no thanks.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 02, 2008 7:54:28 AM CDT

    Good point Metaluna...

    by rbatty024

    Elizabeth: The Golden Age was such a step backwards. She didn't even seem like the same character from the first film. The dialogue was atrocious. What a disappointment. Hopefully he'll redeem himself with this one.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 02, 2008 9:53:19 PM CDT

    re: Harry Turtledove...

    by lynxpro

    Why the frak can't I find the book that he wrote with Richard Dreyfuss (sic) where the American Revolution was averted? I remember when it came out in hardcopy, but I don't think I've ever seen it in paperback.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 02, 2008 10:52:27 PM CDT

    The Two Georges

    by pouchstalker

    Steam powered cars and airship travel.

    Reply to Talkback

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