It's official: Hollywood's next hot scifi screenwriter is Joby Harold. He's just been picked to write a pet project of today's hot scifi screenwriters - and he may be the next Zack Snyder, too.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Harold is in negotiations to write the script for Atlantis Rising, a comic book adaptation being produced by Star Trek, Fringe and Transformers writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (The story deals with humanity being invaded by the undersea dwellers of Atlantis; "In all the classic versions of this kind of movie, the threat is always from the stars... The idea that it's somehow our cousins who went off in a different path of evolution who have been here, literally, underneath our oceans. ... That's fascinating, the idea of secrets right under your nose," according to Orci). The movie, to be directed by Underworld's Len Wiseman, is expected to be released in Summer 2011.
But that's not the only big name that Harold is circling; although his only credit to date is last year's surgery-terror Awake, he's also working on Warner Bros' adaptation of Frank Miller's futuristic samurai movie Ronin, also expected in 2011. Miller, Orci/Kurtzman... throw in JJ Abrams or Joss Whedon, and I think that's the full set, isn't it...?
Joby Harold circles 'Atlantis' adaptation [Hollywood Reporter]