Warner Bros Digging 'The Ditch'

This sounds like a job for Snake Plissken.

According to Variety, Warner Bros has just picked up the rights to The Ditch, a sci-fi action spec from Sascha Penn. Penn is known as being a producer of documentaries and music videos, but now he's aiming to make his mark on the world of sci-fi shoot 'em ups.

Ditch is set in the future, where a maximum security prison has been constructed on Jupiter's moon to house Earth's worst criminals -- I mean, hey, you don't build a prison on the moon of Jupiter for credit card fraud. (Although, I would still like to see the skank who stole my wallet shipped there -- my ATM card doesn't work to this day, and all so she could spend $80.00 at McDonalds!) One unlucky day, a prison guard's family is taken hostage and in order to save them, he must help the most notorious prisoner escape.

This really sounds like something Kurt Russell or Arnold Schwarzenegger would have done back in the day, and maybe like something Vin Diesel would do today. I know I'm always harping on the fact that Hollywood doesn't pick up nearly enough original stories, and then when a new script gets snagged, I mock it (with affection, I assure you). But when it comes to the world of science fiction, there are so many brilliant novels and short stories just crying out to be adapted, and it frustrates me to see those passed over again and again. But never say never -- maybe an Escape from Jupiter's High Security Facility can give us a hero as awesome as Snake Plissken?