Per Deadline, Reese Witherspoon is teaming with Dark Phoenix director Simon Kinberg for a new sci-fi movie. It’s an adaptation of Thomas Pierce‘s short story Tardy Man, which originally appeared in The New Yorker in 2018. Pyros is currently the film’s working title.
The short story deals with a group of augmented people who are fitted with indestructible fire suits fused to their spines. They work for a corporation that recovers objects for wealthy people when their houses are burning. It’s strictly forbidden for them to veer from their salvage missions, even when other humans are in danger. However, the protagonist decides to make an exception to this rule.
That’s certainly an incredible set up; it’s easy to see why Hollywood is very taken by that premise, and it’s no surprise that a bidding war has been sparked for this project. Witherspoon will likely star in a gender-flipped version of the story, but that’s not confirmed yet.
This is a rare jump into sci-fi territory for Witherspoon. She had a role in Ava DuVernay‘s A Wrinkle In Time a few years ago, but that was more of a family blockbuster. Hard sci-fi has rarely been her thing. She should be in good hands with Kinberg though, whose writing credits include Logan, The Martian, and X-Men: Apocalypse.
We’ll wait to learn more about Pyros, and which studio nabs the rights. It’s also unclear right now if Kinberg is also directing. This should all become clear in due time, as this will likely be a highly discussed project until the day it hits cinemas.
#Peace.Love.Pyros
