Director Rebecca Thomas to helm new Amblin project

Rebecca Thomas is doing well of late. On the back of her 2012 debut feature Electrick Children she’s landed directing gigs on Stranger Things and Universal’s upcoming Little Mermaid adaptation.

Now, it looks like she’s signed up to helm the latest science fiction project from Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment. Intelligent Life is an original (yay!) sci-fi thriller about making first contact with an alien race. It will tell the story of a United Nations employee monitoring outer space that makes contact with a woman who’s possibly an alien and then falls in love with her. Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly, writers of Jurassic World, are scripting the movie, with Thomas putting her own touches on the finished article prior to filming.

Trevorrow was initially intending to direct the project, before other work drew him away. In a joint statement, the writers said they were impressed with the sense of isolation created in Electrick Children:

“Rebecca beautifully captured the alienation we often feel amongst our fellow humans in her first feature. We can’t wait to see her explore those themes further in a story about our place in the universe.”

Fingers crossed, this could be good. As a story-driven character piece it’s different from the usual bang-flash-crash science fiction movies we’ve come to expect in recent years. But perhaps most importantly of all, it’s not an adaptation, remake or reboot! Finally, new ideas without a dedicated fanbase are coming through again.

Wait for it, nobody’ll go and see it now…

Source: Slash Film