Five years ago, it looked as if Robert Zemeckis’ interests as a technologically forward-thinking filmmaker would just lead him to the continued creation of terrifying motion captured animated films that pose as being “family-friendly” while actually being nightmare-inducing. If Zemeckis’ new bag is just doing live action films that contain the word “flight” in their titles, I’d say that’s a vast improvement over the former.
Now THR reports (via ComingSoon) that Zemeckis will help Fox develop their Taking Flight: The Hunt for a Young Outlaw, a true crime drama about the exploits of the teen “Barefoot Bandit,” cult hero and criminal Colton Harris-Moore. Filmmaker David Gordon Green was originally developing the project, but my favorite director who continues to break my heart with every subsequent project has “turned his attentions” to his remake of Suspiria (which, incidentally, will begin shooting next month). Zemeckis has not yet signed on to direct, but is working on this as a “potential directing vehicle.”
For now, Zemeckis is reportedly just “overseeing” the screenplay for Taking Flight screenplay and is currently waiting for screenwriter Dustin Lance Black to turn his most recent draft of the material. The script is based on the recently-published book by Bob Friel, also titled “Taking Flight: The Hunt for a Young Outlaw.” You can get a look inside the book HERE, and you can also check out Friel’s original piece on the subject, an article from “Outside,” right HERE.
Zemeckis’ Flight will open on November 2.