Science Fiction World

While the press go crazy over Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' divorce proceedings, more details about Cruise's upcoming science fiction film Oblivion have surfaced. With an estimated budget of US$140,000,000, Oblivion is directed by Joseph Kosinski, the man responsible for the excellent Tron: Legacy. According to Deadline and MTV, Kosinski has been working on Oblivion since long before Tron: Legacy started development. Oblivion's official synopsis describes a science fiction epic with plenty of potential - even more so with Cruise's star power behind it.

Set in the distant future, Tom Cruise plays drone repairman Jack Harper. Here are the official words from Universal studios:

"On a spectacular future Earth that has evolved beyond recognition, one man's confrontation with the past will lead him on a journey of redemption and discovery as he battles to save mankind. Jack Harper (Cruise) is one of the last few drone repairmen stationed on Earth. Part of a massive operation to extract vital resources after decades of war with a terrifying threat known as the Scavs, Jack's mission is nearly complete. Living and patrolling the breathtaking skies from thousands of feet above, his soaring existence is brought crashing down when he rescues a beautiful stranger from a downed spacecraft. Her arrival triggers a chain of events that forces him to question everything he knows and puts the fate of humanity in his hands."

Cruise seems busy lately. He's just completed filming the crime thriller Jack Reacher and is set to star in Mission: Impossible 5 and Van Helsing. Those Top Gun 2 rumours also refuse to die.

Oblivion is currently in production and shooting in the US and Iceland. The French electronic band M83 have been hired for the soundtrack and the film has been written by Kosinski, William Monahan and Arvid Nelson.The cast includes Morgan Freeman as Malcolm Beech, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister from Game of Thrones) as Sykes, and Olga Kurylenko as Julia.

I'm glad Steven Spielberg has nothing to do it. The absurd happy endings tagged onto Minority Report and especially Cruise's War of the Worlds are still hard to forget. Hopefully Oblivion's screenplay possesses depth and gravity, rather than the standard Hollywood join the dots storyline. After being disappointed by Ridley Scott's Prometheus, I need something to look forward to.

Oblivion is scheduled to be released 26 April, 2013.