Tom Cruise stars as a drone repairman who lives in orbit with his wife. By day, he helps clean up the surface of a dead Earth and eliminate the alien beasts that still inhabit it. His life is shaken up when he begins to experience visions of a woman he’s never met, and is pulled into a conspiracy when that mystery woman arrives on Earth via escape pod.

It looks like it combines elements from several existing science fiction films. Except Battlefield Earth. Scientology learned their lesson with that one.

Cruise will play a soldier in this post-apocalyptic world where the Earth’s surface becomes toxic, forcing humans to live in the sky. The soldier is stuck on the planet, repairing robots and shooting stuff, until along comes a beautiful girl to change his outlook on everything. So… WALL-E? A live action version of WALL-E? I could be down, if Jeff Garlin at least makes a cameo. (Deadline)

Ahh…simpler times.

The script hasn’t been written yet, but a treatment of the script managed to catch Kosinski’s eye. Cozad garnered some heat after 2010′s Gray Man, and has mostly recently worked on the Jack Ryan reboot, with Chris Pine attached to play the role that Ben Affleck ruined.

Seeing as how Archangel does not yet have a script, I wouldn’t imagine this will supersede his work on his Horizons, nee Oblivion baby. Of course, there’s still the matter of Kosinski locking down a studio to produce the damn thing. But after that, you know…totally smooth sailing.

But enough about Oblivion/Horizons. Let’s get stoked about this other movie that hasn’t been written yet. (Variety)

Update: The title has been changed to Horizons, apparently.

The deal only got sweeter, as Kosinski had managed to land Tom Cruise in early talks for a starring role in. With Cruise’s name added to the “pros” column, Universal only has one thing left to ask of Kosinski – get the budget down to $100 million. Considering Cruise’s fee could take a quarter of that amount all by itself, don’t be surprised to see Tom get involved in a production role in order to get some of that sweet, sweet back end.

This new arrangement could be a blessing for all involved. Kosinski gets more control, Disney doesn’t have to worry about sullying their image, and Cruise gets yet another opportunity to demonstrate to the public that he isn’t a lunatic. Win-win-win. (Deadline)

We’ve been talking about Tron: Legacy so much I almost forgot the movie isn’t out yet. Reviews are in, including mine and some more contrary ones. First time feature director Joseph Kosinski is still making press rounds, this time calling up during a speaking engagement at ILM (he’s talking to the FX artists in house about Tron).

So, if you’ve been following, you know pretty much what this movie is. Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) goes back into the Grid to find his dad Kevin (Jeff Bridges). The villain is Clu (young Jeff Bridges), who Kevin created in his own 1989 image. Kosinski answered my questions, inspired by both my interests and others’ complaints about Tron: Legacy, and his next film, The Black Hole. He also saw Daft Punk‘s faces!

Screen Junkies: What were the metaphysical ideas you wanted to explore in Tron Legacy?

Joseph Kosinski: I think the idea of our relationship to technology. That’s kind of the idea that’s fundamental to the original Tron and on this film. It seems particularly apt in the world we all live in today with our smart phones and online identities.

SJ: But it goes beyond that with the idea of programs spontaneously manifesting as life forms.

JK: Yeah, to me that’s pushing into the future of digital technology. The idea that life will be discovered not in outer space but inside the computer is not science fiction. That kind of research is being done as we speak. I think even this year certain scientists have started the very initial steps in creating digital life forms. Even though they’re acting more like bacteria, it’s still a really exciting concept.

SJ: Do you think my Angry Birds app will become sentient?

JK: You know what? A couple years down the road, it might be. It’s not that far off. It’s a pretty cool notion, although I like the idea in our film better where digital life forms come out looking like Olivia Wilde.

SJ: Are there things you set up in Tron Legacy for possible sequels?

JK: Certainly there are some leaping off points if we’re so lucky to come back and do another one. I’ll say this: no one’s taking anything for granted. We’re not in pre-production on a sequel or anything like that at all.

SJ: No, but are you thinking the new head of Encom might rear his head as a bigger force?

JK: Yeah, I think it could happen. Obviously we’ve set the table for some exciting possibilities. I think the idea was we wanted to flesh out the Tron universe. There’s a lot of opportunity there and we’ll see which storyline makes sense to pursue if we’re lucky enough to do another one.

SJ: How hard was it to keep the focus with all the things you might want to explore?

JK: Certainly that’s a challenge. From a conceptual point of view, we tried to be ambitious with this film. There’s a lot in there. You certainly need to pay attention to every line in the movie in order to understand exactly everything that’s going on there. It’s certainly a challenge to balance everything in this movie and everything we wanted to say. Believe it or not, there’s some stuff we weren’t able to include that we talked about at a certain point.

SJ: I was wondering, we now see in the Grid they have books to read, food to eat and nightclubs to go to. What ideas didn’t make it into the film?

JK: There was certainly some discussion of this program uprising that Bartik, the character in the club, the guy Castor’s talking to before Sam’s introduced to him. He’s got the scar down his face. Bartik represents a storyline we wanted to originally flesh out more which is the idea that there are kind of three factions of programs that he was trying, Bartik and Laertes and some other programs were trying to round up this revolution to take Clu down from the inside. There are some hints of that in our film of this revolution that’s trying to get some momentum. In an earlier version of the script it was one we explored a lot more deeply. Ultimately it was more story than our film could handle.

SJ: Did you ever want to have Kevin Flynn in action more to see what skills he developed in 1000 cycles?

JK: Yeah, in our film we were only able to kind of hint at the potential that Flynn possesses. The idea was that when he was in his early stages as Kevin Flynn and he was creating the world, he had tremendous power and was able to create anything he wanted. Now that we’ve found him 1000 cycles later, he’s in some ways the shell of the man he once was. Obviously at the end of the film, we get a glimpse of that potential coming back but we’re not able to explore the concept too deeply in our film.

Q: Did you get to see Daft Punk’s faces?

JK: Well, it’s kind of one of the prerequisites of working with someone for a couple years is you eventually have to have a face-to-face conversation. So yes, I spent a lot of time with Thomas and Guy-Manuel working on this film. It was an incredible experience and a great collaboration.

SJ: How do they look?

JK: They are both stunningly handsome.

SJ: In the beginning of the movie, Sam wants to make Encom’s software free. Is the Disney corporation behind that philosophy?

JK: That’s funny, I’ve had that question a couple times. At least the idea in terms of the film is that Kevin Flynn created the Flynn OS as an open source piece of software. So when Encom decides to package it and sell it, it’s something that Sam Flynn just can’t stand and must release to the wild. In terms of software that’s meant to be free, it should be released out there. However, I think when it comes to intellectual property like Tron: Legacy, I don’t think Disney would be happy with it floating out there on the internet.

SJ: How are things going on The Black Hole?

JK: We’re working on the script. Travis Beacham is the writer who’s working on it, a talented guy that I’ve been wanting to work with for a long time. He’s furiously working on the script as we speak.

SJ: With Tron Legacy you got to explore something you thought about based on the original. What’s your entrée into The Black Hole?

JK: Well, that’s more of a re-imagining. That one I’m really just interested in the fundamental concept at the heart of it, this idea of taking an interstellar journey to a black hole and knowing what we know now about black holes, the incredible phenomena that surround them, the warping of time and space and what it would actually be like to exist in that area and what you could do dramatically in those kind of conditions. So not nearly as tied to the original film as I was on Tron but the fundamental concept to me is fascinating.

SJ: Do you have a new way to approach the space journey, since we’ve seen it so often now in film?

JK: Yeah, I think we do. I think we have a really interesting angle into it but nothing I can talk about.

SJ: The reviews are out on Tron Legacy. Are you surprised what people are picking up on, what’s being missed or people seeing things that aren’t even there?

JK: I’ve only been able to talk to press about it. I haven’t really gotten the opportunity to see it with a general audience yet but it is always interesting. Certainly there were things that I would expect some things I knew would be a challenge or things that would polarize people. Like I said, I think it’s a movie you really have to pay attention to and it is surprising I guess how much people miss the first time watching it. I’ve had a couple people tell me they had to see it twice to get everything we put in there.

SJ: For people going this weekend, where would you tell them: don’t go to the bathroom during this part/pay close attention to this scene?

JK: Gosh, obviously the first 10 minutes is pretty important. The safe house sequence, you get a lot of information there. The problem is no one’s going to be walking out during light cycles, but I guess I would say this: Go before the movie starts. It’s only two hours long. You can make it through. Pay attention and I would recommend seeing it in IMAX 3-D. I think that’s the best way to see it.

Tron: Legacy hits theaters Friday.

They did it. Tron Legacy is everything you want it to be. It out Matrixes The Matrix with its special physics and gravity, and even more poignant metaphysical themes.

My favorite part is actually in the real world though. Seeing the Tron memorabilia, toys and posters in young Sam Flynn’s room shows a world in which our Tron exists in a more real way. I love the idea that grown up Sam (Garrett Hedlund) is using his family cred to mess with the Encom board and rebel against Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner). Corporations are bad and software should be free. Right, Disney?

When Sam gets into the grid, we get the spectacle we expected, but more importantly an expanded mythology and just plain cool action. It starts with revamped twists on familiar games, the discs and the cycles (no tanks though.) After that, they take us to new realms of the grid. We’re really just thrust into the world with little exposition.

When we finally get to see Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) again, he has some Dude-like moments of backstory. I love the metaphysics this story suggests. Tron had hints of the possibilities, but Legacy explores the images of ourselves, manifested beings and the idea that the pursuit of perfection is corrupt. Clu (young Jeff Bridges) makes total sense. You would create Clu if you were Kevin Flynn, so what he represents is more than just a villain.

The young Jeff Bridges effect looks pretty glassy, and I say we should forgive it because the idea of a young Jeff Bridges in a Tron sequel is awesome. Awesome is always more important than realistic. However, it speaks to a bigger artistic problem that’s worth discussing, as the film’s only flaw. The filmmakers show young Bridges head on. It’s egotistical and calls attention to the effect, which defeats the purpose of trying to create a seamless reality. Even if you have a perfect effect, you should still obscure the special effect in some way, show him from the side or less clearly. It’s more artistic to tease the effect. It builds more wonder. That’s what Spielberg learned with Jaws when he couldn’t show the shark.

This is the reason older special effects look more realistic. It’s not that modern effects are worse, it’s that filmmakers think they can just show everything. Staring at something blatantly isn’t special. Building it with technique is, so that should be one lesson artists take from the powers of technology. The visual effects in the real world are terrible, but I guess those aren’t the important ones.

The 3D is fine. There’s no headache. Perhaps the color scheme is consistent enough to keep the eyes comfortable. There are deep layers throughout the grid to stretch back miles behind the screen. It’s filmed with a blissfully smooth camera so you can actually enjoy all the visuals.

Tron Legacy is great because of the story, not the effects or style. It is full of pretty ladies, impressive physical specimens and wild characters. I love Quorra (Olivia Wilde) the happy program, and all the quirks Castor (Michael Sheen) lets loose just because he can. This is a world you’ll want to revisit again and again.

When we finally see Kevin Flynn again in Tron Legacy, he sort of resembles an even more famous Jeff Bridges character. You’ve seen that barefoot, bearded Flynn in the robe, but he even talks like The Dude. He describes digital jazz, man and doesn’t want anyone to “mess with his Zen.”

“In looking back at Tron, the original, since I’m playing that character and kind of referencing that guy, he would kind of say things like that,” Bridges said at the Tron: Legacy press junket. “I don’t know if you would say Dude-esque because he preceded The Dude, but both [Steven] Lisberger and Joe Kosinski, our director, encouraged that kind of speak. That was Flynn too. Flynn wasn’t a tight, typical Silicon [Valley] guy. He was pretty loose and hippy-ish himself.”

Zen master Bernie Glassman helped Bridges get philosophical. Bridges plays both Flynn and the rogue program Clu. Flynn built Clu in his own likeness. That could really mess with his Zen. “[That’s] pretty familiar, man,” Bridges said. “I always feel like I’m that in a way. So it didn’t mess with it too much. We talked a lot about Flynn, he’s kind of trapped in the absolute reality. He’s discovered that the more he goes against Clu, the more powerful he becomes so he’s kind of retreated and gotten into the place of acceptance for the way it is to such a degree that it’s almost paralyzed him. It takes his son to shake him out of that.”

Glassman was Bridges’ idea. “It was great to be able to include a wonderful friend of mine, Bernie Glassman who is a Zen master in this little process. He was brought on board in some of the early writings to add some of that Zen quality to it. So in the early meetings, we had Bernie just kind of sitting at the table giving thoughts as the story progressed, from a Buddhist perspective. Very helpful.”

Tron Legacy opens Dec. 17.

Normally I’d protest that Disney is showing too much, but I have a feeling this is only a small taste of what’s to come. Having got the chance to see 3D footage already, I can guarantee you the neon lights and derezing is even cooler when it’s directly in front of your face. The same goes for Olivia Wilde. If only you could reach out and touch her… Can’t James Cameron and Disney combine their forces to invent that technology? Olivia-Wilde-vision. Ten years from now you’ll spend your kids’ food money to experience it.

It’s "Tron Tuesday" again everyone, and you know what that means! A new Tron Legacy clip that doesn’t show the really good parts that you don’t want spoiled anyway! Last week we saw Olivia Wilde, who plays Quorra, taking Sam on a Light Runner ride to unknown territory. Now that territory becomes not unknown, or rather, known.

In this new clip entitled "You’re Here," Sam is reunited with his father Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), who’s been going batty in a computer program for the past several decades. You know he’s losing his mind because he stares off into the abyss and is dressed in all white. Onl mad men and Boyz II Men dress in all white.

Check out the clip after the jump…

The first event I caught at this year’s Comic-Con was the Tron Legacy panel, moderated by Patton Oswalt, a favorite comedian of mine and yours. I’m not allowed to show you the footage that was screened, although you can read my brief description in my Thursday’s adventures recap, but I have video of the panel discussion. You can also check out the awesome new trailer here.

All of the actors were in attendence (for a third year in a row), including Garret Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen, and Jeff Bridges, as well as director Joseph Kosinski. They enlighten us on the process of making the film, the flashy difference between Tron Legacy and Tron proper, and how Olivia kicked-ass in high heels. You really shouldn’t need much more convincing to see the film when it opens on December 17, 2010.

Check out video from the Tron Legacy panel below, or you will de-rez.

Comic-Con 201 Tron Legacy Panel Part 1 – Watch more Funny Videos

Comic-Con 2010 Tron Legacy Panel Part 2 – Watch more Funny Videos

_{Hey, you! Get your damn hands off her!}

Joseph Kosinski, who is currently wrapping up Tron: Legacy, has signed on to direct Archangels, a film described as a cross between a "Bourne-style thriller" and a sci-fi alien adventure. The project is being produced by Scott Free, the production company owned by Ridley Scott and Tony Scott.

The film will center around an "elit fighting force" that tracks down uninvited aliens who manage to sneak onto Earth. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that Pat Buchanan had started writing sci-fi scripts. It’s about time! (/Film)

Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski is looking to bang out another popular science-fiction film and he’s spilled a load of details about how he intends to fill The Black Hole. The film won’t be a sequel a la Tron or an exact do-over either. Kosinski is looking to re-imagine the film by keeping the iconic moments that come to mind but also wants to jam this Hole full of hard science. And he promises not to blow it out. Says Kosinski:

"I saw The Black Hole as a little kid. What sticks out most is the robot Maximilian. The blades and the vicious killing of Anthony Perkins. That freaked me out and that’s definitely going to be an element that will be preserved. From a conceptual point of view, we know so much more about black holes now, the crazy things that go on as you approach them due to the intense gravitational pull and the effects on time and space. All that could provide us with some really cool film if we embrace it in a hard science way."

This sounds like one of those pornos that will be informative as well. And I’m ready to learn. **unfastens pants** (MTV)