Primeval Movie in the Works

Just as its third season is about to debut here in the States on BBC America, Warner Brothers has announced it's purchased the film rights to the British sci-fi series Primeval.

The rights went for the high six figures, says Variety, and Hollywood stalwart Akiva Goldsman (whose current film is the Dan Brown sequel Angels and Demons) is lined up to produce, but not to script, the feature.

The blockbuster appeal of the dinosaurs/time travel premise is obvious. "There is a solid mythology to the series, but the movie has the dinosaur element of Jurassic Park and the time travel element of Lost, and it just feels like the kind of big movie that Warner Brothers does well," Foster said.

With the emphasis on spectacle already palpable in the early talk about the film, one wonders how much the human side of Primeval is at risk. It seems to have already been decided to Americanize the film, setting the action in the U.S. (well, I've been wondering why there would only be wormhole anomalies in Great Britain anyway). What that means for characterization – and casting – is anyone's guess. Impossible Pictures, which is expanding its operations, is said to be developing a version of the series that is set outside Britain, so it's possible the Americanized Primeval film may grow out of something organic to the production and franchise.

Even with all that, this is very cool news – after all, sometimes Hollywood screws up great source material, and sometimes they conjure something even more magical. I'll keep you posted.