Studios just can’t wait to option the latest hot book. Take Fox 2000, which has just won a bidding war for The Passage, a post-apocalyptic vampire story penned under a pseudonym by literary high-flyer Justin Cronin.
It’s a tale set in 2016, which finds a group of death row inmates plucked from prison for a secret government project. Which naturally goes batshit insane and turns them all into highly infectious vampires. Oh, and there’s an orphan girl named Amy who finds she has special powers which might – might! – be able to help.
Ridley Scott liked it so much that he’s agreed to produce it through Scott Free Productions, and he may also direct, which has us salivating at the idea of Scott returning to a futuristic project.
But here’s the thing - the book isn’t even finished. It’s a partial manuscript that the company forked over $3.75 million for, with the promise of two other books to use if the first movie goes well. So for all they know, the ending could be 60 pages of Cronin writing “I am a fish” over and over. Then where will they be? Well, it’ll still be a better finale than AI.
We’re going to take Cronin’s example as an inspiration, and not even bother finishing this.
