Okay, I promised this will be my last post that's two minutes apart. A brief
googling reveals...
The official site with teaser, http://www.irobotnow.com/ The design looks
like something swiped from Chris CUnningham's Bjork video, which is not a
bad place to swipe if one swipes.
And here's info on this site with a brief plot summary (sounds like sort of
more like Asimov's Caves of Steel),
http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/i/irobot.php
And I pulled this off Yahoo! <large ass block of text coming>:
Release Date: July 16th, 2004
Release Date Notes: (1/31/03) Many of Will Smith's biggest hits
(like both Men in Black movies and Independence Day) have opened on 4th of
July weekend, so it's no surprise that Fox is aiming to release this film
for the five-day holiday as well. (3/27/03) Well, Will no longer has that
weekend to himself, as Sony has moved Spider-Man 2 to that date as well.
Will Fox now look for a new date (I'm thinking "yes")? (5/5/03) Indeed, they
have now settled upon July 16th instead, which no other film is currently
scheduled for.
Title Note: (1/27/03) The script upon which this film is most
directly based was originally titled 'Hardwired', but since that script was
inspired by the 9 stories in the 'I, Robot' anthology, 20th Century Fox has
gone with that title instead, so that it may be the first in a series of
'Robot' movies based on Asimov's novels, if successful.
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Distributor Note: (1/27/03) At one point, this project was in
development at Walt Disney Pictures, but was put into turnaround and picked
up by Fox around the time that Disney was preparing for the release of
Bicentennial Man (also based upon a robot story by Asimov), which ended up
being a flop (compared to cost) for Disney.
Production Company: Davis Entertainment (Paycheck, Garfield,
Alien vs Predator), Mystery Clock Cinema (Dark City, Garage Days), Laurence
Mark Productions (Glitter, Bicentennial Man)
Special Effects Note: (1/28/03) This film will be a combination
of live-action actors and sets with CGI robot characters. It's not currently
known which FX companies will be handling that intensive work. (2/15/03)
Specifically, the lead robot character will be played by a human actor on
the set, who will then become the basis for the finished product, as CGI is
overlayed his performance, ala "Gollum" in The Lord of the Rings.
Cast: Will Smith (Detective Del Spooner), Bridget Moynahan (Dr.
Susan Calvin), Alan Tudyk (character reference for Sonny), James Cromwell
(Dr. Lanning), Bruce Greenwood, Shia Le Beouf, Chi McBride; other cast not
announced yet.
Cast Notes: (1/27/03) Actor Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher from
TV's 'Star Trek: The Next Generation') has revealed over at his official
site that he is one of 20 actors currently in talks for the lead role of the
robot accused of murdering his owner. (2/15/03) Huh... the day after I
posted that note, Wil Wheaton updated his site to say that Alex Proyas
"didn't respond to any" of the 20 actors he's seen thus far, including
Wheaton. The search continues. (3/7/03) Alan Tudyk, who played Wat the
hothead squire in A Knight's Tale, has landed the "role" of being the
character reference for Sonny, the suspect robot.
Director: Alex Proyas (Dark City, The Crow, Garage Days)
Director Notes: (1/27/03) At one point in this film's 5+ year
road through development, Bryan Singer (X2) had been in talks to direct.
Screenwriter: Jeff Vintar (cowriter of Final Fantasy: The
Spirits Within); rewrite by Hillary Seitz (Insomnia) and Akiva Goldsman
(Lost in Space, A Beautiful Mind; he also has Supergirl in development)
Screenwriter Note: (10/14/03) 20th Century Fox has hired Jeff
Vintar to work on another Isaac Asimov project, and this one is a doozy: The
'Foundation' trilogy, which is expected to be adaptated into at least two
films.
Based Upon: This film is based upon elements from all nine of
the stories in the "I Robot" anthology by Isaac Asimov (1920-1992). This
film is not a direct adaptation of any of the nine stories in that book, but
is instead a prequel of sorts to them, having its origins in a script by
Jeff Vintar that was originally called 'Hardwired' that was adapted to fit
into Asimov's stories, but not based on any specific one. It's possible that
some of those nine stories, other Asimov robot stories, or one of the four
Robot novels that followed 'I, Robot' may someday be produced as a sequel(s)
to this film. Those four novels are 'The Caves of Steel' (already in
development... at Universal), 'The Naked Sun', 'The Robots of Dawn' and
'Robots and Empire.'
The common themes in all of Asimov's robot stories are the
"Three Laws of Robots": 1) A robot may not injur a human or, through
inaction, allow a human to come to harm; 2) a robot must obey orders given
to it by a human, except where it would conflict with the first law; and 3)
a robot must protect itself, as long as that protection doesn't violate
either the first or second law.
20th Century Fox also has Asimov's "Foundation" series of eight
novels in development as feature films, with Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth, The
Four Feathers) currently (1/27/03) attached to direct.
Premise: Set in a future Earth (2035 A.D.) where robots are
common assistants and workers for their human owners, this is the story of
"robotophobic" Chicago Police Detective Del Spooner's (Smith) investigation
into the murder of Dr. Miles Hogenmiller, who works at U.S. Robotics (run by
Greenwood), in which a robot, Sonny (Tudyk), appears to be implicated, even
though that would mean the robot had violated the Laws of Robotics, which is
apparently impossible. It seems impossible because... if robots can break
those laws, there's nothing to stop them from taking over the world, as
humans have grown to become completely dependent upon their robots. Or
maybe... they already have? Aiding Spooner in his investigation is a
psychologist, Dr. Susan Calvin (Moynahan), who specializes in the psyches of
robots. (McBride plays Smith's boss, who encourages him to close the case
quickly to avoid political fallout; Cromwell plays the creator of the
world's most advanced robots.)
Filming: Production started on May 5th, 2003 in Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada, and wrapped up in early October, 2003 after a
lengthy five-month shoot. The original plan was for filming to primarily
take place in director Alex Proyas' home nation of Australia, but was moved
to Canada due to budgetary concerns. Proyas is maintaining offices in
Sydney, where some work will still be done.
Genre: Based on a Book, Crime, Eye Candy, Science Fiction,
Thriller
Unofficial Preview Page: FilmJerk.com
Message Board: Share your thoughts on our "I, Robot" Message
Board
Input about Greg's Previews of upcoming Movies, or any movie
covered here, is encouraged. Just e-mail Greg Dean Schmitz using our
feedback form. Please note that all release dates are subject to change.