The producer behind such successful comic book adaptations as 300 and Men in Black, Mark Canton, has just announced that he's planning to help bring another comic book property to the big screen. Platinum Studios - not to be confused with Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes - recently re-acquired the film rights to Scott Mitchell Rosenberg's Atlantis Rising and are hoping to turn it into the next big franchise. Yep, that was the word they used, franchise. How about we get one film right first?
Coming Soon first reported about this impending adaptation from Platinum Studios earlier today and the production company owns thousands of comic book characters with Atlantis Rising being the latest from their international library to be plucked for film adaptation. However, the author isn't taking on the project alone as he's teamed up with Canton in order to bring the series to the big screen. Canton was instrumental in getting a film adaptation of the Men in Black comics off the ground and we all know how well that turned out, with the third film due out later this year. Said Canton,
"'Atlantis Rising' has the franchise potential of 'Men in Black,' which I green lit for Scott while at Sony's Columbia Tristar Motion Picture Companies. I'm looking forward to bringing it to the screen with Platinum as a dynamic, state of the art action thriller."
The comic is set in the mythical undersea civilization of Atlantis, a place that the inhabits of the surface remain ignorant about despite the fact that it has existed for over 10, 000 years. Described as an 'action-thriller,' Rosenberg adds that there's a lot more depth (pun intended) to the story than just mindless action. "Atlantis Rising is a provocative sci-fi thriller that at its core brings up the question: whose planet is this?" To be honest, if it avoids the on-the-nose pitfalls of other environmentally themed films (cough Avatar cough) than it could prove interesting. What do think, sound like a good idea for a film? Or, if all goes to plan, a franchise?
