There are those films that seem like they’ll be major hits but somehow end up missing the mark. Among them is the 1998 film Sphere. The novel-adaptation had everything going for it. It had quite the cast with Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone and Samuel L. Jackson headlining the project. Yet, the film flopped and was critically panned. It normally would be the end of a potential franchise. Now, after 22 years, HBO has shown interest in another attempt at adapting the 1987 Michael Crichton novel even after the original film bombed.
This is no small project either, as Westworld producers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy are currently attached. They will be working alongside Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey‘s Team Downey. Denise Thé will act as showrunner for the project. This is noteworthy, as she is currently the showrunner of Westworld. Have to say, did not expect that their next project would be another Crichton adaptation. Going by their track record, we can expect some more existential crisis once we witness their version of the story.
Sphere tells the story of a group of scientists that explore thousand feet below the ocean. Under the ocean, they believe that they may have uncovered alien lifeforms in a spacecraft that crashed thousand of years ago. In their journey, they might uncover something much darker about human nature. It’s the perfect kind of story for the Westworld team to tackle, who also have a lot of experience with HBO. This is also Team Downey’s second project with the network after the Perry Mason reboot. This could be quite the dream team and we might have another suspenseful thriller on our hands.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes, Variety
