The New Movie 'Archangels' by Joseph Kosinski of TRON Legacy

Based on a recent News In Film article, new details have emerged about the Archangels script. Sorry, some of my previously posted speculations were off the mark. The story focuses on a secret, crack military team operating out of Area 51 that monitors for potential alien intrusions. The elite team is called called the Archangels. Their job is to squash any alien intruders who make it through their sophisticated satellite net. They fly around in a futuristic scram jet, using stolen alien technology. It all sounds less like X-files and more like Men in Black without the comedy and a little X-Men thrown in for good measure. This is Sci-fi to be sure, but an action movie, too. The story centers around a lt. William Koenig, a stoic soldier hero who is recruited after his wife and daughter are killed by an alien disease. The baddies are known as the "Greys", a race of aliens who can morph into human form. The concept and story are interesting, but later Koenig becomes a Rambo-like hero and it turns into a big gun battle with plasma cannons blaring on both sides. Anyway, it's sure to be a wild ride. Scott Free Productions, the company of director brothers Ridley and Tony Scott is overseeing the project.

Riding on the heels of his huge hit TRON Legacy, director Joseph Kosinski is set to work on his next project 'Archangels'. The project was confirmed nearly a year ago, long before TRON came out. More recently, in April, 2011, Variety reported that screenwriter Adam Cozard has come on board to rewrite the original script penned by Andrew Will. Cozard recently wrote the script for Paramount Picture's reboot for Jack Ryan, the character from the Tom Clancy novels turned into movies such as Hunt for Red October and Clear and Present Danger. It's unknown if aging actor Harrison Ford is planned to reprise the character, I personally doubt it.

Despite the title, Archangels is a sci-fi movie about alien invaders, a hot plot line these days. The story follows a military team whose job is to track down aliens who have made it past Earth's defenses. It’s been said to have the suspense and action of the Bourne films franchise with some other worldiness. One can’t help but think of X-files. It's interesting to speculate how the script may be changed in reaction to other recent genre movies such as District 9, Skyline, Gareth Edward's Monsters, or even Super 8. It may very well be Cozard's job to put some distance between Archangels and these films.

Before TRON Legacy, Kosinski was relatively unknown. TRON was his motion picture directorial debut. Before that he was best known for his CGI work on commercials for video games such as Halo 3 and Gears of War. He brought his great experience and background in visual effects to work for TRON, now he’s set to do the same thing for Archangels. It was a smart move for the director to do TRON first , not only because he made tons of money, but since the name and original story are well known, he could gain a lot of high profile name recognition for himself as a director. As a newcomer, a movie like Archangels would not have done as well, but now its success is looks much more hopeful. As his second major film, Archangels is a completely original storyline about the hunt for aliens.

I can't help but wonder if the story is at all inspired by the Japanese anime Neo Genesis Evangelion. The very popular anime tells the story of the young, teenage pilots of giant cyborg robots. Their job it is to defend the Earth against giant, eccentric-looking aliens. In the story, following a Christian motif, the giant aliens are euphemistically referred to as 'Angels'.

New Regency is overseeing the project and Tony and Ridley Scott are producing. No details yet on the story, cast, or aliens, but if Koskinski's work on TRON Legacy is any indication, then Archangels is sure to be a big hit, well worth the wait.