Though he’s still slogging through the marathon, script-troubled and oft-delayed Men in Black III shoot, Barry Sonnenfeld is looking to a childhood obsession to fuel a future project and, most likely, distract himself from the neurotic rigours of his current blockbuster. He’s signed a deal to develop a graphic novel and film based on the concept/title Dominion: Dinosaurs Versus Aliens.
Yes, because we clearly haven’t had enough of movies that shove classic tropes together, Sonnenfeld is teaming with writing legend Grant Morrison and Liquid Comics to craft a tale that finds marauding extraterrestrials deciding, as they often do, that Earth looks like a nice place to invade / loot / settle. But they face a serious challenge from the current gigantic inhabitants of the prehistoric planet – the dinosaurs, who were apparently much more intelligent than anyone ever thought. Except, presumably, for the whole extinction thing. Or maybe this will be a new spin on that idea – that the battle between the aliens and the giant reptiles is what finally did for the lumbering former tenants of this blue marble we call home?
“Growing up, my fascination was all things dinosaur, and as an adult, I've had some success making films about aliens, so this is a dream come true," Sonnenfeld tells Deadline. The graphic novel is set for publication later this year, but the movie version is a ways off yet, and still exists only in egg form, packaged by the WME agency and still waiting to be shopped around the studios. Hopefully the wait to get it set up will give Sonnenfeld the chance to recover from shooting/editing/promoting MIB III.