“Killers of the Flower Moon” screenwriter Eric Roth is currently in the middle of writing an adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s “Rendezvous with Rama” for Denis Villeneuve to direct. Of all the projects Villeneuve has percolating next, after ‘Dune 2,’ this is the one I’m most excited for.
Villeneuve’s long-gestating adaptation of Clarke’s novel is one hell of an ambitious undertaking, tackling, as Roth put it, “space and time.” Villeneuve has been attached to ‘Rama’ since before another project, Cleopatra, had even been announced. I would imagine Warner Bros would gladly finance it if it means Villeneuve embarks on ‘Dune 3.’
We haven’t heard much from Villeneuve about ‘Rama,’ just that he plans to direct it. However, recently, he gave us a very short description of what his film would be like and it genuinely whets our appetite (via Empire):
It’s “Arrival” on steroids
Comparing ‘Rama’ to his 2016 mindbender “Arrival” is definitely going to get people more excited about the project. Many believe “Arrival” to be Villeneuve’s best film — I’m more prone to believe that 2010’s “Incendies” is his crowning jewel.
’Rama’ tackles a team of astronauts who are sent on a mission to explore a giant interstellar spaceship hurtling toward the sun. Since Clarke is the genius behind “2001: A Space Odyssey” then you can expect some mind-altering sci-fi to fit the proceedings.
Villeneuve does add that he’s working on three other projects: a TV series, potentially for HBO, based on Jo Nesbø’s “The Son,” with Jake Gyllenhaal, the re-telling of “Cleopatra” and “Dune: Messiah.”