Disney’s Paladin is original sci-fi

No, Disney’s John Carter didn’t beat out the whimsical Lorax on its opening weekend – mostly because of all the self-fulfilling doom and gloom prophecies.

Nevertheless, as word of how great a film it really is spreads, profits may yet be seen, especially from overseas showings. And despite John Carter’s still uncertain success, it’s likely no coincidence that Disney recently decided to move forward on Paladin.

Paladin is an original extra-terrestrial adventure story which was pitched by scribe Max Borenstein and producer Justin Springer, who have both been hired  to develop the feature.

Borenstien and Springer are both newcomers, with Borenstien’s writing credits so far only including The Seventh Son, based on Joseph Delaney’s book The Spook’s Apprentice, which is still in pre-production.

However, with Jeff Bridges and Kit Harrington attached, it’ll likely gain him some attention. Springer’s resume is slightly longer, though his only genre project was as a co-producer on the recent TRON: Legacy.

The plot details for Paladin are still under wraps, and as it’s not an adaptation, we have no source material to look to. All we know so far is that it’s set in space, and it will fall into the ‘adventure’ category.

It is indeed interesting that in an age of ubiquitous reboots the studio has decided to move forward with an original tale rather than falling back on yet another tired remake. Kudos to Disney, as it’s really about time someone Hollywood took more of an initiative to back original scripts and new projects. 

Paladin has no announced production or release dates.