Dystopian sci-fi movies tend to be pretty popular, providing us with glimpses of worlds where the fantastical happens and things sometimes go horribly wrong. Sometimes the success of these films can be kind of hit or miss, but it's unlikely that dystopian sci-fi films will ever go away completely.
There's been a heated bidding war going on among the studios for a new dystopian film called Little America, set to be produced by Michael Bay and Platinum Dunes. The bidding war is now over, however, with Universal having won out in the end.
According to THR, the spec script for Little America was written by Rowan Athale, the director behind 2012's Wasteland; Athale is also attached to direct. The film's story follows a former Force Recon member who is hired by a Chinese billionaire to rescue his daughter from an American ghetto. This is after an American president has bankrupted the country and China has called in its debts, resulting in a China-owned America where many citizens are out of work and desperate. The tone of the script has been compared favorably to John Carpenter's classic Escape from New York.
Little America isn't the first film that Bay and Platinum Dunes have produced that is set in a dystopian America; the company also produced the Purge franchise films, which depict an America where things have gotten so bad that those in power have created a purge system to help keep the population in check. Those films were also distributed by Universal, as were the Ouija films that Platinum Dunes co-produced with Blumhouse.
It will be interesting to see how fans react to the film given Bay's somewhat notorious reputation for explosions over substance. Ninja Turtles was largely overshadowed by Bay's involvement even though he didn't direct the film; it would be a shame if Little America suffered a similar fate where everyone saw it as a "Michael Bay film" even though he only served as a producer. Hopefully the film is strong enough to stand on its own; though given the dystopian setting of the movie, it's unlikely that even a heavy association with Bay won't drag the film down the way it did with Ninja Turtles.
Of course, some moviegoers may wonder whether we need a movie like Little America right now. Several comparisons have been made between the film's setting and the current political landscape, and if the movie mirrors that too closely it may result in controversy. That said, some sources have described the movie as "sci-fun" instead of "sci-fi", so it may end up being just the sort of movie that we need right now.
Next: Classic TV Shows that Actually Deserve the Michael Bay Treatment
Screen Rant will keep you updated on Little America as more news becomes available.
Source: THR