We reported earlier that Ridley Scott's next science fiction movie, his first since Blade Runner, will be an adaptation of Joe Haldeman's The Forever War, an action packed novel about the impact of the time dilation effect on soldiers returning from an interstellar war against the mysterious Tauran species.

It appears that The Forever War will also be in 3D, with Scott being inspired by the camera technology James Cameron has developed for his yet to be released science fiction epic Avatar.

“I'm filming a book by Joe Haldeman called Forever War,” Ridley Scott recently told a London Convention celebrating Blade Runner Day. “I've got a good writer doing it. I've seen some of James Cameron's work, and I've got to go 3D. It's going to be phenomenal."

The author of The Forever War, Joe Haldeman, recently told SFX magazine that he knew Scott was interested in the book over 20 years ago when the rights were first sold. He became aware of Scott’s renewed interest in November 2007.

“They said Ridley was interested in it,” he told SFX. “His assistant told me that Ridley Scott wanted to make a movie that was even more exciting than Blade Runner and Alien. That he wanted to do the ultimate science fiction movie. If it’s bigger than Alien and Blade Runner I’m honoured to be a part, of course”.

Apparently there have been several screenplay drafts written over the years.

“There are versions of The Forever War floating around. I even wrote one. But they want to work with someone who’s a proven producer of screenplays. I don’t blame them. I’ve written movies and television stuff, but I’m not known for it.”

“When Scott picked up the rights a few months ago, he said ‘the book is more relevant now than it ever was.’ Because it seems to fit the war in Iraq as well as it did the war in Vietnam. That’s kind of creepy. We don’t learn do we?”

Scott will start filming The Forever War after he finishes his Robin Hood remake, Nottingham, and The Kind One.

The Forever War, Cameron’s Avatar, and Scott’s other upcoming science fiction project, Brave New World, will make the next couple of years a fantastic time to be a science fiction movie enthusiast. Imagine what Alien or Blade Runner would have been like if Ridley Scott had had 3D technology to play with at the time?