Even though The Wachowskis are currently shooting Cloud Atlas alongside Tom Tykwer(Run Lola Run), the gender bending, complex sci-fi/romance isn't going to remind anybody of what made the siblings famous to begin with. That would be their groundbreaking Matrix trilogy, of course. And while I enjoyed their candy coated lite brite of a Speed Racer flick, most were either blinded by it or lapsed into an epileptic seizure while watching it. Understandable.
Well now Deadline is reporting that the next directing gig for Andy and Lana Wachowski will be Jupiter Ascending, an original creation by the pair which Warner Brothers hopes will have Matrix-like franchise potential. No details on the story have been revealed at this point, but the hope is for filming to kick off in the spring of 2012. They're currently in discussions to secure some A-list talent to topline it.
So this will either shelve or outright kill the two other projects the Wachowskis were said to be circling. One was Hood, a modern interpretation of Robin Hood which was supposed to star Will Smith. The other was Cobalt Neural 9, which had the basically unsellable premise of being a hard 'R' rated story of a gay relationship between an American soldier and an Iraqi during the Iraq War. Good luck with that one.
