Even though Ridley Scott is supposed to hard at work on his Prometheus sequels, the director has picked yet another project to work on: a film adaptation of the British series The Prisoner.
News of Scott’s involvement was first reported by Deadline, which reports that The Martian director is in early talks to join the long-gestating adaptation at Universal. It is being produced by Scott Stuber and Dylan Clark of Bluegrass Films, although Scott Free will probably join if Scott does.
The Prisoner was a 17-epsidoe series, which ran from 1967 to 1968. It starred Peter McGoohan, who also created it, as a former government agent who quits his job, but is taken to an isolated village where his captors hope to get information out of him. He refuses and tries to escape. In 2009, Jim Caviezel starred in a 6-episode remake for AMC.
Universal has been trying for years to get a film adaptation off the ground and the script has passed through several hands, including Christopher McQuarrie’s. The most recent writer to take a crack at it was The Departed’s William Monahan.
Even though the 78-year-old Scott should probably be taking a rest and enjoying awards season because of The Martian, he isn’t. He’s currently preparing Alien: Covenant, a sequel to 2012’s Prometheus.
The Martian is up for three Golden Globes this weekend, including Best Director.