5/20/2014

Morgan Freeman Developing Sci-Fi Film 'Planetoid'; Joins Horse Drama 'Beautiful Jim Key'


He may be best known as the voice of God or the most grandfatherly guy in every single room, but Morgan Freeman has a lengthy history with science fiction and comic book adaptations: Deep Impact, The Dark Knight trilogy, Oblivion, Transcendence, and let's not forget he was the narrator for War of the Worlds and Science Channel's Through the Wormhole. And now he's putting all of the experience to good use by picking up the rights to Image Comics sci-fi series, Planetoid.

Through his Revelations Entertainment label Freeman has optioned the Ken Garing's 2012 comic. It centers on Silas, "an ex-soldier turned space pirate, finds himself stranded on a mysterious planet in alien territory. As he explores the long-abandoned industrial ruins of the planet’s surface, he will have to fend off roving cyborg militias and a hostile alien military with a bounty on his head. Ultimately, Silas will have to build a coalition amongst the planetoid’s nomadic tribes to make a final stand against the larger tyrannical forces that rule over them." There's no word on if Freeman plans to star or if he'll just produce.

And Freeman has also come aboard the historical drama, Beautiful Jim Key, based on the true story of Dr. William Key and his trained horse, Beautiful Jim Key. Directed by Robert Rodat, the story tells of William Key, an ex-slave in 1833 who trained himself to be a renowned veterinarian. After the Civil War he opened up a traveling minstrel show in which the animals performed skits, and the pearl of the show was Beautiful Jim Key, a sickly horse William took in and trained and trained to count numbers, spell, write on a blackboard, and other feats. Freeman will play William Key when filming begins later this year.