JosephKosinski Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Just yesterday I was marveling over the output of Radical Comics, and in doing so managed to miss a little news item that will probably one heck of a prescient move on their part. You see, they've recruited the writing and directing talents of one Joseph Kosinski, the helmer of Tron Legacy, who might just become The Next Big Thing after 2011. But he'll be a little busy, as according to The Hollywood Reporter, Radical Pictures has nabbed Kosinski to write and direct the sci-fi story Oblivion, an original story that he'll develop as a film and as a graphic / illustrated novel. (That's its moody, evocative preview art to the right. Dang, Radical has some good looking books!)

The story centers on a war weary soldier who is court-martialed, and assigned to a bleak and desolate planet as a punishment. His assignment is to destroy the last remnants of its local alien race. His life becomes weirdly linked with a mysterious traveler, and they find themselves questioning everything -- their lives, the planet their on, and their missions.

It's a project that Kosinski began when he moved to L.A., before the days of Tron Legacy and ComicCon frenzies, and had planned on Oblivion as the movie that would kickstart his career. "I was looking to make a science fiction film that I could do on a budget. It's grown since then, but it's intended to be a very spare science fiction film, with a small cast but big ideas and big landscapes." The fact that it's a story penned pre-success intrigues me, and makes me hope that Kosinski is going to join the "Saviors of Sci-Fi" club that Duncan Jones and Neill Blomkamp have originated.

After that last flurry of casting announcements and rumors of Jeff Bridges' cloning, we haven't heard anything from Tron 2. But seeing as it's the new Star Trek, we jump on any rumor that leaks from the secret set. The fact that this comes by way of Ain't It Cool News makes it feel like the olden days of scoops and spies.

First off, the title is going to change again, this time going from Tron 2 to one of those colon things that are so popular these days. Like Tron: The Next Generation or Tron: Reboot. Anything's better than Tr2n, though.

The story details spilled by AICN's source sound legitimate, mostly because it's a predictable way for the sequel to go. The movie starts in 1989, where Bridges' Kevin Flynn has created some of the world's top selling games based on his Game Grid challenges in the first film. He's also built a nice fortune out of the technology he saw there -- there's action figures, and Recognizer night lights, which means this will be the stuff you can buy everywhere the summer this is released.

All this financial stability means that Flynn has a family life, namely a seven year old son named Sean. He disappears, leaving behind his son, and Bruce Boxleitner's Alan Bradley takes over Flynn's company (ENCOM). Fast forward 25 years, and guess who's going to be on the lookout for dear old dad? And guess where Flynn will be? There's more, but I'm going to stop there -- 2011 isn't that far away, and we've got to pace ourselves.

Can you believe it has been twenty-five years since the release of TRON? Since 1982, the sci-fi movie has turned into a cult classic for the geek and gamer sets, peaking (in my opinion) recently with an Adidas shoe design. And while the original is mostly appreciated for its ground-breaking yet dated special effects, Disney has decided to finally develop a TRON sequel, and it has just revealed its choice for director. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio is once again going with a first-timer, commercial director Joseph Kosinski. You may have heard that name before, though, because he's the guy also set to helm the remake of Logan's Run over at Warner Bros. Kosinski will be developing the sequel, in addition to directing; he will oversee the visuals and the script, which is being written by Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz of TV's Lost (they wrote, among their many, the mostly insignificant, but entertaining episodes "Tricia Tanaka is Dead" and "Exposé") . The story is, of course, being kept secret, but Kosinski is said to be working on a Light Cycle (see the photo) sequence that will serve as showcase of his vision for the movie. The sequel, which will be produced by original TRON director Steven Lisberger, along with Sean Bailey (Matchstick Men) and Brigham Taylor, has also been described as "the next chapter" of the storyline from the original.

The first thing to wonder is whether or not Jeff Bridges will be involved. Disney will probably want a younger star, but they should at least allow Bridges to appear in some capacity (they must also give a cameo to this guy). The next thing, which is actually more of a concern than a wonder, regards the special effects. CGI has come a long way since debuting in TRON -- some (me) would often say a long way for the worse -- and any modern effects would lack the kitsch appeal of the original. Sure, many movies these days have CGI that resembles video game visuals, but that's a bad thing. THR reports that many effects people are vying for the chance to work on this project and that most of them have been heavily inspired by the original. So, hopefully the chosen effects teams and personnel will be able to pay homage, retain the style and also somehow update the look of the first movie without turning out something too realistic or modern.

We've been hearing about it for quite some time now, but it looks like Warner Bros. is (really) about to dust off Logan's Run and give a remake another shot. But don't expect just another version of Michael Anderson's 1976 cult classic. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the producers are interested in sticking closer to the source material (by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson) than rehashing the movie, plus it seems they're aiming for an old-school approach.

"While details of the new take are being kept mum, it is known that it will be low-tech science fiction in a futuristic setting and hew closer to the book than the 1976 movie," is how THR puts it. And get this: They've hired a director! Yep, first-timer Joseph Kosinski will be at the helm, and he'll be working from an adapted screenplay by Tim Sexton. Although he's done a lot of commercial work (and some collaborations with David Fincher), this will mark Kosinski's first time at features. But it sounds like he really came prepared: "Kosinski came into Warners with a presentation that included graphic art and animated previsualization that set the look, color, tone and style of the movie he wanted to make." Ah, and Joel Silver is still attached as overseer.

For those who've never seen the movie, here's a quick recap: In the future, you're killed at age 30. If you try to run, you'll be caught and killed by a "sandman." But what happens when a "sandman" decides to run?? (Quick enough for you?) Over the past few years, directors like Bryan Singer, James McTeigue and Robert Schwentke have been (temporarily) attached to the remake, but with Mr. Kosinski now on board, I think we can soon expect a bunch of interesting news on this remake. Obviously we'll let you know. (And not that you asked, but I'm one of the many who really adores the Logan's Run flick. Silly jumpsuits and all.)