Paul Walker to star in Skyscraper
So apparently Universal Pictures has signed a production deal with Paul Walker’s Laguna Ridge Pictures, and the first project is an action-thriller called Skyscraper.
And apparently this is the same Skyscraper idea that was optioned by Universal back in 2008, pitched by one Mike Sobel. According to the original news report, the story
is set in the world’s first mile-high skyscraper, fictionally built in Chicago, and centers on the Donald Trump-style developer as well as on the daring crew that rushes in to save the tower when it starts to falter.
Some Towering Inferno potential here, perhaps? Walker will executive produce and star, with Neil H. Moritz acting as producer. No further details at this time.
This thing dates back to the ’70s disaster genre, when Forrest J. Ackerman kept announcing “Crisis on 5th Avenue” over and over again (in which the Empire State Building could have collapsed).
It never ceases to amaze me how “properties” can languish for decades only to finally see light of day in some other form. Ackerman also told his readers (in Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine) that Hollywood would follow up Westworld and Futureworld with “Dinoworld,” in which robot dinosaurs would run amuck in an amusement park. Westworld author Michael Crichton, of course, transformed that into Jurassic Park years later.