It’s been quite some time since Ridley Scott announced his intentions to adapt Joe Haldeman’s sci-fi tale The Forever War for the big screen. Blade Runner screenwriter David Peoples provided a draft for the feature version in 2010 and, today Deadline reveals that All You Need is Kill scribe D.W. Harper has now come aboard for a rewrite.
Somewhat similar in tone to All You Need is Kill‘s source material, Haldeman’s The Forever War was published in 1974 and tells the story of an intergalactic battle where, due to the time displacement of faster-than-light travel, soldiers leave the Earth and return decades later. Haldeman, who served in Vietnam, used the book as an allegory for his wartime experiences.
There’s no firm date for when Scott might begin production on The Forever War and, indeed, he’s said that he’s wanted to adapt the book for three decades. Still, his recent return to science fiction with Prometheus and his plans for both a sequel to that film and to his original Blade Runner might mean that Scott may be bringing Haldeman’s story to the screen sooner rather than later.
