New Line has spent the last year developing the earthquake disaster flick San Andreas: 3D, and last month entered into negotiations with Brad Peyton (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island) to direct.  Screenwriter Allan Loeb (The Dilemma) started work on the screenplay, but Variety reports New Line will bring Carlton Cuse (Lost) on board for a rewrite.  Amid the California earthquake, the story follows “one man who must make the treacherous journey across the state to rescue his estranged daughter.”

Once Lost ended in 2010, co-showrunner Damon Lindelof launched straight into feature writing gigs on the likes of Prometheus and Star Trek 2.  Cuse briefly stepped out of the limelight while he set up projects, including the Psycho prequel series The Bates Motel and an action/adventure starring Hugh Jackman.

After directing a successful run in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Brad Peyton is reportedly in negotiations to direct disaster movie, San Andreas 3D.  Plot details are scant, but the crux of the picture revolves around an earthquake that strikes California.  We previously reported that the plot also involves a man taking a journey from Los Angeles to San Francisco in order to reconcile with his estranged wife who has taken their children and moved in with another man.  The script, originally written by Andre Fabrizio and Jeremy Passmore (the Red Dawn remake), was touched up by Allan Loeb (Just Go with It).  Heat Vision reports that New Line is in talks with Peyton, who was recently attached to write and direct the DC Comics’ Lobo feature and will also be heading the third Journey installment.

I guess it was only a matter of time. With Hollywood craving anything and everything 3D, the market seems ripe for a disaster film resurgence. What better way to kick off a string of 3D disaster pics than with earthquakes? New Line Cinema is leading the charge with the aptly named San Andreas: 3D. 24 Frames reports that versatile scribe Allan Loeb (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, 21) wrote the script, which centers on a man “forced to go on the road to reconcile with his children and his estranged wife, who’s moved away and taken up with another man.” The film follows the protagonist’s journey from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

Beau Flynn (Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D) is producing, and the project is currently seeking a director. With movies like this, the best you can really hope for is big spectacle (Michael Bay could sure have some fun with earthquakes in 3D). Roland Emmerich took a stab at monstrous quakes with 2012 pretty effectively, so we’ll have to see if the director they go with can come up with a cool take on the disaster genre. Either way, 3D earthquakes are coming soon to a theater near you.