James Mangold to direct CYCLOPS

By Matt Holmes / June 25, 2011

We spent September pretty much in love with James Mangold's latest movie 3:10 to Yuma, a film that showcased perfectly just how to do a remake and exactly how to do an old school and mean western in the 21st century. So what's next for the talented helmer who with Walk the Line,Identity and Cop Land has put together a really nice little filmography for himself. Well Variety say he is just the latest director to reveal his intentions on going SCI-FI!

Sorry about the lame image, it's all I could find. Mangold will direct the sci-fi graphic novel Cyclops for Warner Bros. It's written by Alexis Nolent (whose The Killer novel has been picked up by Paramount for David Fincher) and it seems to share many themes with The Running Man. I'm surprised we haven't seen more of these movies dealing on this theme when reality t.v. shows are such a part of the popular entertainment these days.

Set in the near future, the actioner concerns mercenary forces whose soldiers wear Cyclops-like cameras in their helmets and broadcast in real time to both central command and living rooms. One mercenary chosen to lead an elite squad begins to realize he isn't fighting for freedom and justice as much as for commerce.

WB have a shortlist of screenwriters for the movie and it's expected they will narrow it down to one next week. Great stuff. Mangold's work just keeps getting better and better and I've said it before we heavily support original sci-fi on this site. And these projects are starting to stack up now, it's exciting to see.