Genre: Action/Science Fiction.
Studio:
Warner Brothers.
Production Company:
Unknown.
Project Phase: Development Hell.
Who's In It:
Unknown.
Who's Making It:
Terry Gilliam (Director, rumored and not confirmed); Alexander Torres (Screenwriter); Jerry Weintraub
(Producer).
Premise: There was no Mercury 6 spaceshot. The program stopped after five launches -- or that's what the government wants you to believe. But two Fish and Wildlife agents know better: after being launched into space in 1962, the sixth capsule just crashlanded hours ago off the coast of Florida...and its crew of two chimpanzees are not only still alive after three decades of living in space, but intelligent and capable of speech.
Before long, the residents of a small Florida town find themselves in the midst of a revolution -- not of man against man, but man against Nature. And rallying the armies of the now-intelligent beasts is a would-be conqueror bent on overthrowing humanity from our station as the pinnacle of evolution. And if we don't listen to what he has to say -- he'll use the nuclear warheads he's just commandeered.
Release Date: Summer 2000?
Comments on the Script: The Mercury Effect has a cool premise: what if animals were as smart, or smarter than the average human being? What would they think of our society's practise of slaughtering cattle or poultry, or domesticating cats and dogs as pets? Torres' script presents an opportunity to examine that kind of dilemma through the introduction of the two Mercury chimpanzees who've returned to Earth hyper-intelligent. One, Gibraltar, is bent on overthrowing the reigns of humanity, and with every new animal he exposes to the virus that grants him his sentience, he gains a new ally in his war against the humans.
There's some great ideas for chase sequences, particularly one involving a rhino chasing down a witness, and a chilling sequence where one of the Fish and Wildlife agents try to get the word out to the townsfolk that their animals can understand what's being said to them. As one old lady watches the TV in puzzled curiousity, she turns to look at her many cats...and the cats all turn their heads in unison to look at her. Very creepy.
If you're worried the idea sounds silly, don't be. Torres pulls it off, both making it as plausible as a cop battling terrorists in a skyscraper, and dark as well. Think Jumanji meets The X-Files and you're already in the theater seat. It's worth $8 of your money, end of story.
Rumors: Unknown.
Scoop Feedback:
November 11, 1997... CA first learns of this spec script through an anonymous email. Fearing the worst (someone with a cool idea and no script wanting to get their name in lights), we start checking out the rumor to see if it's legit. The person drops a tag line being considered "Evolution just got ugly."
November 27, 1997... The mysterious scooper now tells us that Terry Gilliam is considering helming the picture. Our souces in H'wood shake their heads and report back "What Mercury Effect script?"
December 12, 1997... Returning again from their shadowy hiding place, the scooper now tells CA Jerry Weintraub (producer of The Avengers) is developing this picture. They tell us which FX firms are collaborating on the project's CGI and animatronic effects but ask us to keep it quiet for now. Scooper describes script as "The X-Files meets Jurassic Park."
December 19, 1997... CA sources confirm the existence of a script titled The Mercury Effect. A spec (speculative) script, it sold for $500,000 last year to Warner Brothers. Others in H'wood like what they read.
December 27, 1997... The script arrives at CA.
January 14, 1998... We're assuming the same scooper who first tipped us off to the project has returned with more info. With no page up yet for this project, the scooper tells us WB is hoping to make this one a reality by the year 2000. With a planned-for budget of $130 million and a first-time collaboration between Jim Henson's Creature Workshop and Stan Winston Studios, the scooper tells us pre-production begins Spring of '98. "Godzilla, Mighty Joe Young, and other 'monster' movies will be closely watched by Warner Bros in the months ahead, to get a feel for the market. The film is dark in tone, and scary. This ain't no Jumanji."
January 25, 1998... The Buzzstation breaks the existence of the project first (go get 'em, Will.) Will Neve's posting corroborates with the information CA has been receiving.
February 7, 1998... CA's page for The Mercury Effect project finally hits the Internet. Kinda gives you an idea as to how much information we receive, and how much we try to confirm its accuracy, eh?
[Compliments should first be sent out to our anonymous scooper who first alerted us to the presence of this cool script -- you know how to reach us. Further commendations to CA's 'helpers' who assisted us in the pursuit of this script. And a pat on the back to Will Neve and his 'Buzzstation' for breaking news of it first.]
March 22, 1998... We've heard a report that the script may have taken a more light-hearted turn in its rewrite. It's now said that the project wants to be more in the vein of Men in Black and maintain a humorous direction with its storyline. That means some of the script's darker sequences may now be considerably less frightening. [Reported by 'OrganGrinder'.]
Here's something that should delight the WB people who surf CA: 'OrganGrinder' is the first individual to create an entire Web site devoted to tracking the progress of the film. Even though that may not be a lot at this stage of the production game, they have gone out and gathered images of the chimpanzees NASA used in their Mercury space program to provide some background on Torres' story, and OG promises to add more info as time goes by. It proves what we here at CA have been noticing through scoop feedback: there's already some serious interest being directed towards this project, even at this embryonic phase of its development. Link to the site by clicking here.
An anonymous scooper tells us Gilliam won't be taking on this project next; word is that his long-stalled Defective Detective will be his next work. But the scooper tells us that vocie actor Jim Cummings will be providing one of the two chimp voices. A quick look in The Internet Movie Database tells us that Cummings has worked on dozens of animated projects in the past, including Anastasia, Hercules, All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 as well as the television series Earthworm Jim, Spider-Man and The Tick [Anonymous.]
Another different scooper knocked on our window late one night. " I had the opportunity to ask Stephanie Allain, President of production at Jim Henson Pictures about the status of The Mercury Effect. She initially had no idea what I was talking about, but when I described the premise she responded, 'Oh, I remember reading that script. I didn't like its message.' (meaning it's a little darker than the standard Jim Henson's Pictures fare.)
"I found this interesting in light of the scoop that mentions that Jim Henson's Creature Workshop is associated with the project. (which is a different division of the Jim Henson Company).
"Regardless, I'm looking forward to seeing this film. Nothing beats talking animals more than ass-kicking talking animals!"
[Thanks to our anonymous friend.]
May 30, 1998... We're told that the Warner Bros. people are standing behind this film and want to announce a director soon. [Beamed from space by 'OrganGrinder'.]
July 21, 1998... While the race to find a director for the picture continues Torres' script continues to be tweaked. We haven't read the latest draft ourselves but our mission control specialist 'OrganGrinder' reports to us that a new opening sequence has been written (well, at least it's in the latest draft).
As it stands now, the script opens with a shot of the Warner Bros. shield in silver, then the camera moves back to reveal the logo is on the side of a WB satellite orbiting the Earth. Space junk begins to strike the satellite and then -- and then the scooper trailed off. Damn! The scooper also mentioned that WB is putting the project on the 'fast-track' (that's industry speak for "we really want to get this one moving soon.") [Thanks to our cosmic watchdog 'OrganGrinder' (who really is a lot sweeter than his name implies.)]
Related Sites:
The Mercury Effect Fanpage -- Created by the enigmatic 'OrganGrinder', this site is devoted to tracking the development of Warner Bros. upcoming science fiction film. Includes a FAQ, chat room and pictures of the actual chimpanzees used in NASA's original Mercury space program.
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