Although time travel hasn’t been a particularly original plot device since H.G. Wells popularized the time machine in 1895, if there’s one thing that Phillip K. Dick‘s posthumous career has proved, it’s that we love time travel – even when it takes place in a hot tub. And there’s nothing Hollywood enjoys more than turning that love into sweet, sweet dollars.
To that end, Relativity Media just made a preemptive deal to scoop up Timeless, a spec script from Enchanted writer Bill Kelly. The story centers on a recently married man who loses his wife, but discovers she has left him a vast fortune. Haunted by an issue left unresolved between the two of them, the man decides to invest the money in an effort to build a time machine, so he can see her one last time.
Australian director Phillip Noyce (pictured above), whose past efforts have included both Salt and Clear and Present Danger, is negotiating to helm the pic, and Sunil Perkash, who produced both Salt and Enchanted, is on board to produce. According to Deadline, Perkash loved the story when Kelly pitched it to him, and turned around and quickly sold the deal to Noyce and Relativity.
That’s great news – as anyone who actually watched the surprisingly good Enchanted will attest – because Bill Kelly is a really promising new talent in Hollywood. I’m looking forward to seeing more from him. Unfortunately, it could be a while before Timeless moves into production. Noyce has already signed on to direct another spy thriller, Wenceslas Square, in addition to his already in-the-works sequel to this summer’s Salt. He’s also reportedly working on an adaptation of author Tim Winton’s Booker Prize-winning Dirt Music, with Russell Crowe as a possible lead. So while Timeless could certainly be a film to look forward to, it looks like it may have to go on the back burner for now.
