That's the word from the LA Times blog 24 Frames. A source tells them that wholesale changes have occurred on the New Line Cinema project that has ground almost to a halt.

First up director Len Wiseman, of Underworld fame, has jumped ship to a new project called Nocturne. 24 Frames note that Wiseman hasn't officially left but they believe that, when the project does get rolling again, he probably won't be back.


They also make it seem like it won't get rolling again for sometime. New Line have downsized the budget of the film from $100 million to something far less than that. That budget shift has also effected the story. It was originally meant to be a huge epic that detailed the whole Locust invasion and subsequent war with humanity. It was going to be big and awesome. Now the story is being reined in so it's more inline with the new budget. Apparently it will be a straight-ahead invasion film. That seems like strange wording to me though, as an invasion film still sounds pretty epic to me.

With these changes to the story New Line are now also looking for a new writer to take over Wanted scribe Chris Morgan's original script.

I'd like to seem them, with a smaller budget, try to create something raw and gritty in the vein of the Halo 3 ODST live action commercials. A polished Hollywood Blockbuster style epic action movie could possibly take something away from Gears of War. It should definetley stay away from the first person style of the Doom movie but something that seems raw and frenetic, where the Locust Horde really do feel like they come out of no where would be great. They could really play up the survival, almost horror, nature of the game as the Locusts can burst up from beneath the surface at anytime. The downsize, hopefully, could be a blessing in disguise.