Legendary Pictures Buys Sci-Fi Script PACIFIC RIM from CLASH OF THE TITANS Screenwriter

Legendary Pictures has made a pre-emptive buy on Pacific Rim, sci-fi spec script from Clash of the Titans screenwriter Travis Beacham.  According to Deadline, Pacific Rim is “set in a future in which malevolent creatures threaten the earth, the planet must band together and use highly advanced technology to eradicate the growing menace.”  Isn’t that the plot of Gears of War and countless other sci-fi action stories?  I’m sure Beacham is slamming his head against his desk right now because I doubt this broad outline is what Legendary paid in the high-six-figures for .  I also won’t hold Beacham accountable for the awfulness of Leterrier’s Clash of the Titans, since that film underwent major changes from script to screen.

Pacific Rim is being set up as yet another of Legendary Pictures’ tentpole films.  The studio has Inception this summer, and in development it has Batman 3 and the Superman reboot, and adaptations of the video games Mass Effect and World of Warcraft (with the latter being directed by Sam Raimi).  As for Beacham’s, he’s also doing well.  He’s writing Timur Bekmambetov’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and a remake of the 1979 sci-fi film The Black Hole for Tron Legacy director Joseph Kosinski.