Carpenter in ‘MUTANT’ hunt
By Stephen Galloway
John Carpenter, hot on advance word for his Paramount/Rysher film ESCAPE FROM L.A. will next team with producer Edward Pressman to make an adaptation of the game MUTANT CHRONICLES.
The fantasy adventure centers on an unlikely team of heroes who have to return to Earth after it has been ravaged by war and then save mankind from a growing demonic armuy.
Pressman is developing CHRONICLES with a view to creating the same kind of franchise that THE CROW has become for him. No studio is yet attached to the project.
Philip Eisner (EVENT HORIZON, I, ASSASSIN) and David Goyer (THE CROW: CITY OF ANGELS) have written the script based on the game created by Sweden’s Target Games.
BATMAN FOREVER scribe Akiva Goldsman, who supervised script development, will serve as executive producer with Alessandro Camon. Pressman will produce with Tim Zinnemann.
Pressman is now working on marketing plans with Target Games. It is expected those will include a toy line, along with publishing and video games by Acclaim Entertainment. An animated TV series is also being developed.
In addition, through Acclaim Comics, Pressman’s Top Dollar Publishing label also recently put out a comic series based on CHRONICLES.
"We have been pursuing John to direct this project because he is just the kind of visionary a film of this scope demands," Pressman said. "With John at the helm, MUTANT CHRONICLES has the potential to be a huge motion picture event. Audiences today are so attuned to this genre, which John has significantly shaped, that the timing could not be more perfect for a film of this magnitude."
Pressman’s films include the upcoming THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU and pictures such as REVERSAL OF FORTUNE, WALL STREET, TALK RADIO, CONAN THE BARBARIAN and BADLANDS.
Carpenter has directed films including ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, STARMAN, HALLOWEEN and ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13.
ICM’s Jim Wiatt brokered the deal for Carpenter along with attorney Barry Haldeman. Neil Friedman, chief operating officer of the Edward R. Pressman Corp., handled the deal for Pressman.
