Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are getting back in business with Sony.
The Culver-based studio’s Tri-Star Pictures has won the bidding war for the duo’s next project The Last Human, beating out competitors Netflix, WB and Universal. Human is based on an upcoming children’s book of the same name by Lee Bacon.
Henry Gayden, the writer behind Warner Bros.’s upcoming Shazam! movie, is set to pen the script.
Lord and Miller will direct the project and intend to make it their next film following the production of Artemis for Fox
Human is based on an upcoming children’s book of the same name by Lee Bacon. Set after the robot apocalypse, when humans have been extinct for 30 years, the story follows a 12-year-old robot, XR_935, who is happy to live in a world without crime, pollution or war. One day, XR discovers a human, Emma, who is also 12 years old, but has spent her entire life inside an underground bunker, hidden away from machines. Emma and XR form an unlikely friendship, and, with two other robotic companions, embark on a dangerous voyage in search of a mysterious point on a map, a journey that will require them to break all of the rules while also challenging ideas of prejudice.
Human is set to be published October 2019 by Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams. International rights have already been sold for the U.K., Latin America, and the Netherlands, among other territories.
THR broke the news Friday of the bidding war for the project, which has as been referred to as a “reverse E.T.” Paramount, New Regency, and MRC were also in the mix for Human.
Hannah Minghella will oversee the project for Tri-Star.
Human will continue Lord and Miller’s long relationship with Sony. The studio is behind their 21 Jump Street movies starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, as well as the animated franchise Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Most recently, the duo produced Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which has earned the best animated feature at the Golden Globes and BAFTAs and is a favorite for the best animated feature Academy Award.
Lord and Miller, currently in theaters with Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, are repped by UTA and Ziffren Brittenham. Bacon is repped by UTA and Sarah Burnes at The Gernert Company.
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