25 Amazing Concept Designs From Sci-Fi Movies In Development Hell
5. Robopocalypse
The idea of artificial intelligence-driven machines taking over the world might have been around before the advent of real AI in the 21st century, but the huge popularity of The Matrix cemented the concept in the cultural narrative for good. Steven Spielberg took the subject of a more benign integration of machines and humanity in A. I. Artificial Intelligence, but has since been working on the dystopian angle explored by Daniel H. Wilson in his 2011 novel Robopocalypse, in which an A. I. named Archos attempts to eradicate civilization in order to preserve the planet's biodiversity. It may sound like a rather tired and formulaic pitch - the idea of domestic robots turning on their masters was explored wonderfully, if succinctly, in the Animatrix animated short The Second Rennaissance - but in Spielberg's hands it's unlikely we'd be getting a bland rehash of previously explored themes, even if some of the critical reviews of the source material suggest that it is hackneyed and cliched. Still, while there's always the novel to turn to if you want to get a better idea of how the plot may turn out, when it comes to the look and feel of the film all we have to go on are these tantalizing robot and wearable tech designs from Patrick Janicke. In light of the ambitious scope of the production, securing the necessary funding to do justice to the material meant that the production had to go back to the drawing board in 2013, despite the fact that filming had initially been scheduled for the previous year and several big names, including Chris Hemsworth and Anne Hathaway, had been tied to the project. Wilson stated in an interview back in October 2014, "You know, Spielberg has other movies that hes directing right now. But Robopocalypse has certainly been worked on. Im sure that DreamWorks is still very excited about it." It's easy to read this as code for: "Sorry guys - it's back in development hell!"
