The trend of bringing comic books to the big screen seems to still be financially viable as Summit has now just acquired the film rights to bring ‘Area 52’ to theaters near you.
Summit will be working with producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian to bring the adaptation to life. These men are no strangers when it comes to bringing comic books to life as they are the men behind the hugely successful ‘G.I.Joe: Rise of the Cobra’ and ‘Transformers’ movies.
The idea of making a movie version of ‘Area 52’ has been kicked around for quite some time. In 2007, it was in development at Universal Studios with rumors having Steven C. Miller directing from a script written by Jack Phillips. Now Summit is starting the process over again and will be looking for writers and a director to sign on to this project.
‘Area 52’ is a 2001 comic book series by Brian Haberlin about a government storage facility located in the Antarctic where otherworldly artifacts and objects are stored after Area 51 is finished with them. It is guarded by a band of misfits who know nothing of what they are guarding and were sent there as the government couldn’t find a place for them anywhere else. When an alien being is hatched on site and begins terrorizing the area, this ragtag group must defend themselves with items in the storage area. Unfortunately, they have to figure out what they are using and how it works before they are killed. Think of it as ‘Men in Black’ meets ‘Warehouse 13’ meets ‘The Thing.’
The premise sounds exciting and the possibility of adding a comedic touch to the usual drama-like sci-fi film is very appealing and loaded with potential. Once the legalities of the acquisition are ironed out, more information should be coming out soon. Stay tuned here as we’ll make sure you’re in the know when more details are available!
