According to The Hollywood Reporter, Guillermo Del Toro (Crimson Peak) is in talks with 20th Century Fox and James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment to develop and direct a remake of Fantastic Voyage.
David Goyer, who previously worked with Del Toro as the screenwriter of the sci-fi action horror thriller Blade II, co-wrote the new Fantastic Voyage script with Justin Rhodes (Grassroots). Lightstorm’s Cameron, Jon Landau and Rae Sanchini will produce, and Goyer will executive produce the feature.
The story of the original movie centered on a brilliant scientist in the Cold War era who has developed a way to shrink humans and objects for brief periods of time. He tries to defect but is attacked and his life endangered due to a blood clot in the brain. In an effort to save the scientist’s life, a team of Americans in a nuclear submarine is shrunk and injected into the scientist’s body. They have only a limited time to fix the clot before the miniaturization wears off.
Del Toro garnered an Oscar nomination for penning the original screenplay of 2006’s Pan’s Labyrinth, which he also directed. He worked as a screenwriter on the most recent Hobbit trilogy (2012’s An Unexpected Journey, 2013’s The Desolation of Smaug, and 2014’s The Battle of the Five Armies). He directed and co-wrote last year’s gothic romance Crimson Peak starring Tom Hiddleston (I Saw the Light) and two-time Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain (The Martian). Del Toro was slated to direct Pacific Rim 2, a follow up to his 2013 Pacific Rim which he directed and co-wrote, however since the sequel has been taken off the table indefinitely, the director appears free to choose his next vehicle.