There are certain styles of books that don’t do a lot for me. The Swarm seems to be exactly that, and though it was a bestseller overseas I’m still not convinced it will make the best movie. Oh, hell, I’ve gotten ahead of myself so here’s the news so you can catch up to my thought process:
Dino and Martha De Laurentiis will partner with a trio of German producers to turn the bestselling Frank Schatzing novel “The Swarm” into a big-budget ecological disaster film.
And why doesn’t The Swarm work for me? Here’s the plot:
The story is about an alien presence that exists quietly on the ocean floor and is compelled to destroy humanity after its eco-system is disrupted by pollution. Scientists race to stave off an apocalypse.
Universal has the first crack at this one but here’s my beef: Why has an alien presence been chillin’ on the bottom of the ocean until we all drove too many cars? Will the scientists save us by stopping pollution or killing the compelled aliens? Wait, don’t answer that, either way it’s lame.
Don’t get me wrong, I like alien races and movies about alien interference. The Andromeda Strain comes to mind as a cool, non-preachy story. And maybe I’m being too hard on this and it will entertaining. I guess that’s why we play the games.
