First cropping up in the middle of the summer, the mysterious “Jupiter Rising” (now being called “Jupiter Ascending“) was added to the already lengthy list of movies being eyed by The Wachowskis. And since 2008’s eyeball-melting “Speed Racer,” they’ve certainly had no shortage of movies to choose from. While “Cloud Atlas” is now in front of cameras, “Hood,” an “urban retelling” of the Robin Hood mythology with Will Smith sought to star, and the R-rated Iraq War gay romance picture “CN-9” (aka “Cobalt Neutral 9”) were also tossed around as possibilities. But the former sounds, frankly, pretty terrible and latter is not going to get financing from any major studio ever, so it looks like the sibling duo will go back once again to their comfortable sci-fi territory for their next flick.
Deadline reports that the wheels are now turning on “Jupiter Ascending,” with Warner Bros. eyeing a spring 2012 start date for the action film, which is being described as having the franchise potential of “The Matrix.” Moreover, an A-list star is being sought to lead the film, and if you want to know what it’s about, too bad, because details are being kept under lock and key.
Should this all pan out, it will mark a very busy (and expensive) spring for Warner Bros. who will potentially have “Jupiter Ascending,” “Akira” and “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” all in front of cameras. For the Wachowskis it finds them busier than ever after a few years away from Hollywood, and certainly their ambition — from the time-spanning, multi-threaded “Cloud Atlas” to whatever they’ve conjured up here — hasn’t waned in the slightest. “Cloud Atlas” is aiming for a fall 2012 release.
