Variety is reporting that acclaimed director Jay Roach (the Austin Powers trilogy, Meet the Parents, Trumbo) is onboard to rewrite and possibly direct Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks Pictures’ science fiction feature Intelligent Life. Roach won Emmys for two HBO films, Game Change and Recount, and was nominated for this year’s LBJ/MLK biopic All the Way.
Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) was originally set to team with Selma director Ava DuVernay for Intelligent Life, but the latter’s commitment to Walt Disney Pictures‘ A Wrinkle in Time forced her to drop out and Nyong’o followed suit.
First announced last year, Intelligent Life boasts a screenplay by the Jurassic World pair of Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly. It has roots in an earlier project, The Ambassador. Although no plot specifics for Intelligent Life have yet been revealed, The Ambassador was set to follow a UN worker hired to represent humankind for the chance of alien contact who ends up falling in love with an alien.
Frank Marshall will produce Intelligent Life alongside Trevorrow and Big Beach Films, who produced Trevorrow and Connolly’s indie hit Safety Not Guaranteed.
Although Roach is currently only contracted to work on the script, Steven Spielberg and his studio are hopeful he will take a larger roll moving forward. As always, check back for updates as they become available.
(Photo Credit: WENN.com)
