Source Code writer to pen parallel universes movie for Netflix

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Although Duncan Jones' Source Code didn't quite pack the same punch for me as his first feature-film (Moon) did, I still enjoy it quite a lot. With its tightly-wound time-loop plot and highly-enjoyable performances from Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan, there's a lot to like, which is why THR's report about Source Code screenwriter Ben Ripley's next sci-fi thriller caught my eye.

The outlet has reported that Netflix has picked up a sci-fi spec script by Ben Ripley that seems to be something of a spiritual sequel to Source Code. The new project, titled Parallel, is described as a sci-fi heist movie that takes place across parallel universes as it "involves a man and woman who traffic in high-end crimes in parallel universes suddenly meeting, a development that threatens their boss. Determined to outrun their fates, they fight across these different realities to find one where they can both survive and be together." Sounds interesting.

Ben Ripley's Source Code script was also done on spec, and was one of the top unproduced screenplays on the 2007 Black List. In an interview with the Writers Guild of America, Ripley spoke of the uncertainty getting the project off the ground. "Yeah, it was agony. And I wrote it on spec," Ripley said. "I wasn't certain it would ever see the light of day. One thing that kept me going though was that I had a suspicion that if I got this right, it could really open a new level for my writing career. At that point, I'd spent about four years doing studio rewrites on horror movies that were never getting made. I knew that if I showed up with another spec script, I'd have to show up with something very different that took chances. That motivated me to keep going until it seemed right."