It looks as if H.G. Wells' oft-filmed 1896 science fiction classic THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU will be headed for the big-screen treatment once again as Deadline is reporting that Warner Bros. is teaming up with Appian Way partners Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran for a contemporary re-imagining of the classic novel.
Adapted for the screen no less than six times, with the most notable adaptations coming with the 1932 Bela Lugosi-starring THE ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, a 1977 adaptation starring Burt Lancaster and Michael York, and the infamous 1996 take on the material that starred Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer, THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU is described as…
…the narration of Edward Prendick, a shipwrecked man rescued by a passing boat who is left on the island home of Doctor Moreau, who creates human-like beings from animals via vivisection. The novel deals with a number of philosophical themes, including pain and cruelty, moral responsibility, human identity, and human interference with nature.
Appian has set "Hemlock Grove" writers Lee Shipman and Brian McGreevy to pen the screenplay, with the intention to make it a sci-fi film with a topical ecological message.
I'm willing to take another trip to THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU. How about you?
This new version has got to be better than the Marlon Brando-starring 1996 debacle, right?