In a surprising bit of news, Bradley Cooper has revealed on “Charlie Rose” (via CHUD) that he’s interested in adapting Dan Simmons’ science fiction series Hyperion and has already approached Graham King Productions with a treatment that he and his friend, Conal Byrne, wrote together.
“This is an example of trying to get things started,” said the actor, who revealed that his true passion lies in one day directing, “[We] went to Graham King, who own the rights to “Hyperion,” and we wrote a treatment on spec. I said, ‘I know this is a very audacious endeavor, but can you just read this spec we wrote? I think we have a way in to tell the story.’ So now we’re negotiating to write the script for it.”
The story for the novels is set in the distant future, as a space war threatens Hyperion, a planet known for the Time Tombs — large artifacts that can move through time and are guarded by a gruesome monster called the Shrike.
Bizarrely, the project was some time ago set up at Warner Bros. with Scott Derrickson to direct. Derrickson, who directed the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still, was, at the time, also attached to Paradise Lost. That film is now being developed by Alex Proyas and Cooper is likely for the role of Lucifer. At the time, the plan was to to merge the first two Simmons novels into a film called Hyperion Cantos.
While it’s too soon to say what will happen with Cooper’s take, the Hangover star admits that the project isn’t likely to be one that would let him direct, simply because of its massive scale.
“Ideally I’d love to direct,” he said, “but there’s no way. I mean, I shouldn’t say that. You never know.”
Though his screenwriting talent has yet to be proven, Cooper certainly has some box office clout to his name as The Hangover Part II has already made $31.66 million in a single day of release.
Click here to check out the full “Charlie Rose” interview, which also
includes Cooper’s thoughts on both Paradise Lost and The Crow.
