Corona | Coming Attractions

Robopocalypse the movie had been halted. The Steven Spielberg movie had its trek toward production delayed by DreamWorks for an indefinite amount of time due to the high price tag to realize the expensive sci-fi action story, and also because the screenplay wasn't ready to go into shooting.

Spielberg spokesperson Martin Levy told The Hollywood Reporter that "It's back to the drawing board to see what is possible."

When that could mean Robopocalypse will move back into the active schedule for the movie studio remains unclear.

The present screenplay for the film is by Drew Goddard (writer of Cloverfield and director of The Cabin in the Woods).

Fresh from her stint playing the latest Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises, Anne Hathaway is now attached to star in the Robopocalypse movie. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the discussions between DreamWorks and Hathaway are in the very early stages. Things could work out or they may not.

In a different department but just as interesting is the unexpected addition of former Twentieth Century Fox president Tom Rothman to the production. Rothman resigned from his post at Fox after working for the company for 18 years, and he was involved with negotiating with DreamWorks and directly with director Steven Spielberg about Fox co-distributing the film.

The deal between Rothman and Fox is reportedly close to being finalized, and it would see him become a new producer on the project.

Before audiences get the chance to see him play the new Q in the next James Bond movie (which is Skyfall, opening in November), Ben Whishaw may land a co-starring part in the Robopocalypse film. If the deal is reached the dark-haired man would play a hacker character named Lurker, one of the few human survivors that are regrouping after the robot uprising nearly killed off all of humanity.

The Variety story which first reported Whishaw's possible involvement with Robopocalypse also state that the producers are keen on having him play this Lurker individual, and have been since the early days of casting started.

Anne Hathaway remains also a rumored name for the film's lead female role while Thor's Chris Hemsworth is still up for the lead male role.

Whishaw's next released film before Skyfall will be Cloud Atlas. He plays several characters in that film, spread throughout six different epochs in time.

Steven Spielberg will direct Robopocalypse for DreamWorks, with The Walt Disney Company scheduled to release the movie in the summer of 2013. Filming will take place commencing January 2011.

"Robopocalypse embodies an imaginative story of a robot rebellion unleashed against the human race," said Mark Sourian, an executive of production at DreamWorks. "This is a project we immediately sparked to and with Steven directing it we knew it was in the best possible hands to bring it to worldwide audiences."

Drew Goddard (Cloverfield) wrote the screenplay, adapting the material from the book by Daniel H. Wilson.

There's a rumor reported by Deadline about the possible interest of Steven Spielberg to direct Robopocalypse as his next film. The interest allegedly comes from Spielberg because of DreamWorks' commitment to deliver up to 35 movies for Walt Disney Pictures and Showtime in the next five years. Spielberg has not settled on what his next project might be. The recent work on the Robopocalypse screenplay by Drew Goddard (Cloverfield) is said to have elevated the interest of the filmmaker.

DreamWorks has bought the screen rights to Daniel Wilson's Robopocalypse novel, with Doubleday purchasing the publishing rights and eyeing a 2011 release date. Details about the book's premise are scarce save for its setting in the ruins of a future where mankind has been pummeled by an uprising of robots.

Wilson has written two similar books titled How to Build a Robot Army and How to Survive a Robot Uprising, the latter of which had its screen rights acquired by Paramount Pictures. He has a Ph.D. in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon university.

"Daniel H. Wilson's cautionary tale of man vs. machine grabbed us from the very beginning," said DreamWorks co-president of production Mark Sourian. "Wilson's background in robotics and artificial intelligence grounds his story with a frightening level of realism."