Morel Could Also Direct The Sam Raimi-Produced ‘Earth Defense Force’ Sci-Fi Film
Late last month it was reported three directors were circling Hasbro‘s “Ouija Board: The Movie” (or just “Ouija,” but we find it funnier the other way), “Legion” FX guy Scott Stewart, Sylvain White (“Stomp The Yard,” “The Losers”) and French B-thriller filmmaker Pierre Morel (“Taken“), who recently bailed on the long-gestating adaptation of Frank Herbert‘s sci-fi book, “Dune.”
Umm, but ok, we know that David Lynch’s version wasn’t great, but going from a “Dune” remake to a “Ouija” board film adaptation doesn’t sound like much of an upgrade frankly. Either way, it looks like Morel has now emerged as the frontrunner — even though it’s been revealed that John Moore (“Max Payne“) has also been in the running.
According to THR, Morel is a hairbreadth away from taking the gig having presented his take on the material to Universal today. Incidentally, Hasbro held a meeting for their stockholders today and revealed some small details on the toy-to-film projects they have in the works.
A Bleeding Cool spy even returned with imagery from the presentation that evidently reveals that the “Ouija” film is being planned to hit theaters on November 9, 2012. Plus there’s some lame imagery of films we know they already have planned, but don’t seem to be progressing that far including “G.I. Joe 2,” — though a script was penned by the “Zombieland” guys so that’s something — the J.J. Abrams-developed “Micronauts,” and preliminary logos of “Battleship,” “Clue,” “Stretch Armstrong” and other Hasbro properties if preliminary logos are your thing (the “G.I. Joe 2” one is pathetic and looks like someone just slapped on a “2” on an old graphic in a different font).
Back to Morel. THR says he’s also in talks with Warner Bros. to helm ‘EDF’ or “Earth Defense Force,” a sci-fi/alien invasion project that Sam Raimi is producing. So Morel, a supernatural thriller focusing on the spirit board that is used to communicate with the dead or working with Sam Raimi on the umpteenth alien-invasion flick (they’re kinda being canceled left, right and center these days). Well, the lesser of two evils seems obvious and we’d try and persuade you either way, but we’ve seen things like your last directorial effort, “From Paris with Love,” and we’re clearly not your target audience so do whatever feels right, bro. Evidently, “Ouija” would start before “EDF” could, so that could factor in and of course if neither works out Morel could slink back to “Taken 2.”
