Warner Bros. has been extremely busy lately getting their ducks in a row for an expansion on the DC universe. But the studio isn’t putting all of its eggs into one comic-book basket (thankfully) and is actively pursuing somewhat original ideas for potential big-screen franchises.
Up next will be Temple of Heaven, a concept conceived by producers Jason Reed and Michael Andreen that Deadline reports has been acquired by Warner Bros. for development. Very, very little is revealed about the project outside of the notion that it takes “aspects of Chinese mythology and weaves it into an action adventure.” But is it set in ancient China? Does it somehow shift the action to modern times? The actually Temple of Heaven is a complex of religious buildings located outside of Beijing. Will it factor in to the plot? Really, anything is possible, so we’ll wait to see.
From here, Deadline says that Reed and Andreen’s pitch has been handed over to writer Chad St. John to develop it into a workable treatment. His only credit to this point is Motor City, a project directed by Albert Hughes about a recently released convict (Gerard Butler) who goes after the people who framed him. Motor City co-stars Gary Oldman and Amber Heard, but we won’t know what St. John is capable of until we get to see it in 2013.
Still, it’s encouraging to report on a film that doesn’t have a superhero or popular-novel tie-in as its source material. We’re always lobbying for something original out of Hollywood, and Heaven has the potential to be just that. Let’s see what comes of it, and if we’re able to support it.
