With the historical drama Lincoln headed for theaters this November, it’s easy to forget that Steven Spielberg’s next project is getting back to the sort of big budget blockbuster filmmaking that he practically invented. Robopocalypse is the director’s return to science fiction, and Deadline reports that he has his eye on The Avengers star Chris Hemsworth for the lead role.
Here’s the plot synopsis:
In the near future, at a moment no one will notice, all the dazzling technology that runs our world will unite and turn against us. Taking on the persona of a shy human boy, a childlike but massively powerful artificial intelligence known as Archos comes online and assumes control over the global network of machines that regulate everything from transportation to utilities, defense and communication.
In the months leading up to this, sporadic glitches are noticed by a handful of unconnected humans—a single mother disconcerted by her daughter’s menacing “smart” toys, a lonely Japanese bachelor who is victimized by his domestic robot companion, an isolated U.S. soldier who witnesses a ‘pacification unit’ go haywire—but most are unaware of the growing rebellion until it is too late. When the Robot War ignites—at a moment known later as Zero Hour—humankind will be both decimated and, possibly, for the first time in history, united…
Spielberg and Hemsworth reportedly took on fake names to meet each other in secret, and the director was impressed enough that he wants everyone’s favorite Norse god along for the robo-ride. There’s no official offer on the table yet, but this would be a great opportunity for Hemsworth to explore some more tentpole filmmaking under a man who knows the genre better than anyone. He’s had a heck of a year so far, appearing in The Avengers, The Cabin in the Woods, and Snow White & The Huntsman.
