Theory: Ridley Scott made a deal with the devil for long life and success. The catch is that the devil can claim Ridley once he’s not working, which explains why a 72 year old man is still lining up dozens of potential directing gigs. The next: Brave New World, based on the book by Aldous Huxley.
Huxley’s book is one of the seminal science fiction novels of all time, yet has never made a big screen appearance (and I suspect that many of the people who haunt the Barnes & Noble SciFi/Fantasy aisles have never read the book). Set in a 26th century dystopia, Brave New World blazed the path for many modern scifi tropes, such as a one world government, a society based on genetic engineering and a satirical look at the future of our modern consumerist lifestyle.
Leonardo DiCaprio is co-producing with Scott, and is looking to star. The Hollywood Reporter has him pegged to play Bernard, a free-thinker who belongs to the Alpha caste. I would actually rather see him try the role of John the Savage, a man raised outside the world state on a ‘Savage Reservation.’ John’s younger than Leo – 18 in the book – but his tragic story would be an interesting challenge. Bernard’s too typical for the actor.
The film is set up at Universal, and Farhad Safinia, who wrote Apocalypto, is handling the adaptation duties. His script writing is what will determine when (or if) Brave New World movies forward; it’s currently competing with other Scott projects like Monopoly, the Alien prequel, The Forever War, the untitled Reagen/Gorbachev project, a Gucci biopic, Stones, Child 44 and probably more that I’m missing.