The Departed Screenwriter to Adapt OBLIVION for Tron: Legacy Director Joe Kosinski

Disney has hired Oscar-winning screenwriter of The Departed William Monahan, to adapt the graphic novel Oblivion for Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski. Monahan has also written films such as Kingdom of Heaven, Body of Lies, and Edge of Darkness. Kosinski created and wrote the graphic novel with artist Andree Wallin. Disney picked up the film project last month. 

The story is described as a big sci-fi epic that centers on a battle-damaged soldier who, assigned to a desolate planet after a court-martial, patrols the bleak landscape in an effort to destroy the last vestiges of a primitive alien race. When a mysterious traveler arrives unexpectedly, their lives become inextricably linked as they are forced to question everything they know about this world and themselves.

Here's the official Synopsis:

From Tron Legacy director Joseph Kosinski and critically acclaimed creator Arvid Nelson (Rex Mundi) comes an original sci-fi adventure of epic proportions. In a future where the Earth’s surface has been irradiated beyond recognition, the remnants of humanity live above the clouds, safe from the brutal alien Scavengers that stalk the ruins. But when surface drone repairman Jak discovers a mysterious woman in a crash-landed pod, it sets off an unstoppable chain of events that will force him to question everything he knows.

Here's what Kosinski told CBM in a previous interview:

“It’s a sci-fi adventure that spans two different worlds and two different times. It’s epic in terms of its scale and scope, but it’s a character driven story with a small cast.” … “I first came up with the concept when I moved from New York to Los Angeles. I was inspired by old sci-fi models like The Twilight Zone” to find an emotional, dramatic story that would raise interesting questions and play with perspective. I wanted to build the story around those few characters, but at the same time ask the bigger universal questions that are integral to science fiction, questions about our existence, our purpose in the big scheme of things. …  The main character, Jak, is an ex-soldier who works as a drone repairman on this barren planet. He fixes the drones that patrol the surface looking to destroy what’s left of the Scavengers, a savage alien race. Jak has a partner, Vika, who’s a by the book kind of career officer and she works as his “eye-in-the-sky,” scanning for damaged drones and monitoring Scavenger activity. One day, Jak comes across a spacecraft that’s crashed, and inside he finds this mysterious woman in “deltasleep.” He rescues her from the Scavengers and takes her back to their Skytower, which is high above the clouds. When the woman wakes up, her story turns their lives upside down and sends each of them on an adventure of self-discovery.

This sounds like a great story, and it's going to make for a fantastic sci-fi film! To read the first chapter on the graphic novel and see some more art CLICK HERE.