Global disaster films (natural or otherwise) have been all the rage the last number of years. Armageddon, Deep Impact, The Core, Sunshine, War of the Worlds, The Day After Tomorow… yadda yadda yadda. Feels like movies today all feel like they need to have some sort of global scope to them. No one wants a movie about racing against the clock to save 1 little boy (I know that’s not true, but it feels like it).
Add to that list now “The Swarm” Which has just gone into development. Based on a best selling book, once again scientists must race to try to save the world. But with a bit of a twist. Our friends over at Latino Review give us this:
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.
Now this sounds a little familiar… hmmm… oh yeah… THE ABYSS! To be fair, I can’t call this an Abyss rip off based on a one sentence summary, and frankly I haven’t read the book… but a LOT of people have. The Amazon description of the book reads like this:
Whales begin sinking ships. Toxic, eyeless crabs poison Long Island’s water supply. The North Sea shelf collapses, killing thousands in Europe. Around the world, countries are beginning to feel the effects of the ocean’s revenge as the seas and their inhabi-tants begin a violent revolution against mankind. In this riveting novel, full of twists, turns, and cliffhangers, a team of scientists discovers a strange, intelligent life force called the Yrr that takes form in marine animals, using them to wreak havoc on humanity for our ecological abuses.
Heck, sounds good to me. The question I have then is… if you’ve read the book, what do you think about it? Do you think it will make for a decent screen adaptation… or does it indeed feel a little too much like The Abyss? Let us know in the comments.
