Obviously: Roland Emmerich Offered Director’s Chair For ‘Asteroids’


Roland Emmerich who has combined his knack for big explosions and doomsday scenarios into a film career, is going to take a stab at something resembling respectability when he delivers the Shakespeare conspiracy theory movie “Anonymous” later this year, but we knew he couldn’t stay away from the CGI for too long.

Vulture reports Universal is making an offer to Emmerich to direct a big screen adaptation of the video game “Asteroids.” We’re not joking. We’d definitely understand if you chose to forget this project was even happening. Way back in 2009, the film project was announced with producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura revealing the story would center on two brothers who “go through a seminal experience to figure out their relationship, against this huge backdrop.” And that backdrop? Vulture now adds that in this film Earth is already destroyed (sorry Emmerich) and humans are living alongside aliens in far off space colonies. But it turns out that it was the aliens who actually destroyed the Earth and now they want to wipe out humanity. UH OH. No wonder this movie topped our list of dumbest movie projects announced in 2009.

In case you’re wondering Matt Lopez (“Race To Witch Mountain,” “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice“) wrote the script which should tell you all you need to know about this project. As for Emmerich, there hasn’t been much word about any future projects from the director except for a story last fall about a super low budget alien invasion movie he was doing on the down low called “The Zone.” No word on that found footage-style movie either because it didn’t happen (it was supposed to shoot in November) or because Emmerich really did make it under the radar. But will it be a conflict of interest? We doubt it.

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