Sam Raimi Developing A Soldiers-Shooting-Aliens Flick

Sam Raimi’s tied to a lot of possible projects these days. He’s supposed to be directing Oz, The Great and Powerful (A prequel to the Wizard of Oz following the Wizard as a con man played by Robert Downey, Jr.), he’s slated to direct a World of Warcraft film and also a film featuring Wyatt Earp in a postapocalyptic Las Vegas called Earp: Saints For Sinners. You’d think that’d be a pretty full plate, but he’s also negotiating with Warner Brothers to direct a big-budget alien invasion film called Earth Defense Force. The film would be produced by Bill Block (District 9), with a script by Andrew Marlowe (Air Force One) and it’s probably based on the Japanese video game Earth Defense Force: 2017, although that hasn’t been confirmed.

As Vulture describes the script:

In EDF, we open on a U.S. military operation gone awry: Sent to rescue what they believe is a sub that’s accidentally bumped into a mine in Chinese waters, U.S. naval aviators quickly wind up engaged in a dogfight with a squadron of Chinese air force pilots. Soon, planes on both sides are being shot out of the sky, but not by the Chinese or U.S. pilots — by three alien attack fighters, which soon depart and destroy many of the world’s landmarks and military installations, then vanish. It’s a test of Earth’s defensive capabilities, and we failed. Shortly after, NASA detects a radiation signature in a nearby galaxy, indicating a far more massive attack coming in about ten months, and world leaders set about trying to create super-aircraft and weapons that can fight off the coming invasion.

So, Sam Raimi wants a bunch of money to show soldiers fighting off Aliens for two hours? How do you argue against that?

[Vulture via /Film]