It's a new Willennium for Isaac Asimov fans.
Will Smith is plugging into 20th Century Fox's futuristic thriller I, Robot--the long-awaited big-screen adaptation of the acclaimed author's collection of sci-fi tales that launched the robot craze and paved the way for such techno thrillers as The Terminator and Blade Runner.
According to the Hollywood trade papers, Smith will begin shooting the project in April with director Alex Proyas, the brooding auteur behind The Crow and Dark City.
In I, Robot, the former Fresh Prince will play a gumshoe in the not-too-distant future who stumbles upon a massive conspiracy while tracking down an android that may have gone haywire and committed a crime violating the strict laws governing robots.
As originally laid out in nine short stories written by Asimov in the 1940s, the three laws of robotics go something like this: (1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm; (2) a robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law; (3) a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
"The big idea here is that if the robots have found a way to violate the laws, there is nothing to stop them from taking over, because the human race is so dependent on robots and automation," 20th Century Fox film president Hutch Parker tells Daily Variety.
Asimov's template has provided much fodder for the sci-fi genre, echoing in the work of Terminator director James Cameron and author Philip K. Dick, whose short story Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was the basis for Ridley Scott's 1982 sci-fi thriller Blade Runner. (Dick also wrote the story that became Steven Spielberg's Minority Report.) Then there's the brief tale by Brian Aldiss, "Supertoys Last All Summer Long," which became the basis for 2001's ill-received Spielberg-Stanley Kubrick collaboration, A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Asimov's work is hailed for practically inventing the notion of "robotics," beginning with his landmark story "The Bicentennial Man" (which was turned into the 1999 Robin Williams dramedy Bicentennial Man) and his Foundation series of books, among hundreds of others.
I, Robot has spent many a year festering in Hollywood's development hell.
Fox was originally planning to shoot a non-Asimov story titled Hardwired by screenwriter Jeff Vintar, but when the studio managed to acquire the screen rights to I, Robot, the studio combined key components of Asimov's work with the Hardwired project.
Hillary Seitz (Insomnia) did a rewrite for Fox, and then Oscar-winning Beautiful Mind writer Akiva Goldsman computed the latest draft.
Smith, who garnered an Oscar nomination with Ali, will be jumping back into a genre he has dominated with blockbusters like Independence Day and the two Men in Black films.
Before he can segue to I, Robot, Smith must first finish filming Bad Boys 2. That action sequel is slated to hit theaters next summer. I, Robot, meanwhile, will likely hit screens in late 2004.
Meanwhile, there's word that Will and wife Jada Pinkett Smith are developing a UPN sitcom loosely based on their family life.
Although the A-list couple won't appear in the series, they're working on the scripts and executive-producing.
UPN is hoping the untitled show is in shape for a berth in the fall 2003 TV season.