Attack the Block was the stellar indie hit that put director Joe Cornish on the map. The innovative action sci-fi comedy featured a cast of unknowns fighting what appeared to be an invading alien force. Now Cornish is confirmed to write and direct an adaptation of Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash over at Paramount. Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall will produce.
Stephenson’s novel centers on a futuristic world controlled by a corrupt corporation, where a deadly computer virus runs rampant and the only person who can stop it is a samurai/hacker/pizza delivery man named Hiro Protagonist.
Here’s the official book synopsis from Amazon:
From the opening line of his breakthrough cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson plunges the reader into a not-too-distant future. It is a world where the Mafia controls pizza delivery, the United States exists as a patchwork of corporate-franchise city-states, and the Internet–incarnate as the Metaverse–looks something like last year’s hype would lead you to believe it should. Enter Hiro Protagonist–hacker, samurai swordsman, and pizza-delivery driver. When his best friend fries his brain on a new designer drug called Snow Crash and his beautiful, brainy ex-girlfriend asks for his help, what’s a guy with a name like that to do? He rushes to the rescue. A breakneck-paced 21st-century novel, Snow Crash interweaves everything from Sumerian myth to visions of a postmodern civilization on the brink of collapse. Faster than the speed of television and a whole lot more fun, Snow Crash is the portrayal of a future that is bizarre enough to be plausible.
Based on the header image and the premise alone, this is right in Cornish’s wheelhouse. He has a great understanding of mixing action, sci-fi, and comedy elements. So he should have no problem setting those tones for the Snow Crash adaption.
According to Deadline, Kennedy was the one who introduced Stephenson’s novel to Cornish. Kennedy is a familiar name within the industry, as she is the one who has produced movies such as War of the Worlds, Benjamin Button, The Adventures of Tintin (which was co-written by Cornish), War Horse, and most recently Lincoln.
I am actually surprised to see Cornish take so long to get back into the director’s chair. Seemed like he couldn’t find the right fit. But Snow Crash is something that most certainly fits and I can’t wait to see how he brings the novel to life.
[Source: Deadline]
