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Sam Raimi and Warner Bros Starting an 'Earth Defense Force'

by Ethan Anderton
September 29, 2010
Source: Vulture

With projects like a futuristic take on Wyatt Earp and an adaptation of the video game World of Warcraft in his future, director Sam Raimi is quite the busy man. That's not stopping him from adding to his workload though as Vulture reports Raimi is working with District 9 producer Bill Block and Warner Bros. to set up a sci-fi flick called EDF (or Earth Defense Force). The report says: "Mix Top Gun with Independence Day and add a pinch of The Last Starfighter, and you'll get EDF." Andrew Marlowe, the writer of Air Force One and executive producer on the TV series "Castle," is writing the script and it sounds pretty epic. Read on!!

Since the truly exciting aspects of this story (which has nothing to do with the video game of a similar name) are in the details, I'll just let Vulture's scoop speak for itself. Here's how they describe the project:

"In 'EDF,' we open on a U.S. military operation gone awry: Sent to rescue what they believe is a sub that's accidentally bumped into a mine in Chinese waters, U.S. naval aviators quickly wind up engaged in a dogfight with a squadron of Chinese air force pilots. Soon, planes on both sides are being shot out of the sky, but not by the Chinese or US pilots, but by three alien attack fighters, which soon depart and destroy many of the world's landmarks and military installations, then, vanish. It's a test of Earth's defensive capabilities, and we failed. Shortly after, NASA detects a radiation signature in a nearby galaxy, indicating a far more massive attack coming in about ten months, and world leaders set about trying to create super-aircraft and weapons that can fight off the coming invasion."

However, those looking forward to Raimi finally deciding what his next directing gig might be will be disappointed to hear that it doesn't sound like he'll be directing this one. However, the project will be looking for a director very soon. Now we're left wondering once again what project Raimi will embark upon next. In addition to the aforementioned projects (Wyatt Earp and Warcraft), Raimi has also been linked to an adaptation of The Shadow (likely only as producer) and maybe Oz: The Great and Powerful but it's still unclear what the filmmaker will tackle. Like all Raimi fans, I'm hoping we find out sooner than later. What do you want Sam Raimi to direct next?

Explore tags: Movie News, Opinions

http://www.twitter.com/RyanMHolt Ryan Holt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntDyECvmnIo I hope the movie is as awesome as the game... I could totally see Bruce Campbell cast as the main character!
Chris H.

Sort of similar to two stories, one is Robotech and the other is "World War" by Harry Turtledove. For those not familiar with Robotech and Macross, it is essentially as Ethan described this move as a cross between Top Gun, Independence Day, and The Last Starfighter. The military in Robotech is referred to as the Robotech Defense Force or RDF. However, Robotech and Macross are both much deeper than a simple invasion movie... which leads me to World War. World War was a strange 'what if?' novel series by Harry Turtledove that has aliens attacking Earth during World War II. All sides have to stop fighting each other and start combining efforts to defeat the aliens. This movie sounds an awful lot like a modernization of this story, which sounds pretty cool to me
Spencer

Uhhh.. yeah that's pretty much how robotech started. But i'll reserve judgment until more info comes out. If they make the fighters able to transform into robots.. then yes it sounds a lot like a rip off of robotech.
Voice of Reason

Sam Raimi couldnt direct traffic......unless, of course, the flow of traffic lead to a toilet
Jericho

@4 agreed but, like his other movies, he has something to base it off of and not an original idea so it will be a NICE toilet....
Mr sole

Lol I love the game. Looking forward to a mindless, raucous, action packed movie.
Mr sole

I meant ridiculous not raucous.. Stupid predictive text. how do you edit your own post?
http://www.firstshowing.net Ethan Anderton

Remember folks, this project has nothing to do with the video game of the same name.
tivdatsun

I love Raimi. This project sounds interesting. But in the end, I just want to see Iron Sky!!!
Mike P

@ 8: I find that just a bit hard to believe. I mean in actuality, yeah I guess it doesn't HAVE to, because they can take little dips and turns to "differentiate" it, but that's a little ridiculous for them to state that...It shares a name, and it shares the same core premise of aliens invading the Earth to attack. It's like if I made a movie about a boy with glasses who attends a mystical wizard school with all his wizard friends. By the way, this boys parents were murdered and he has a scar on his forehead. It's called Harry Potter, but it has nothing to do with the movie of the same name.
Mr sole

I agree with comment 10. Its almost like saying that transformers had nothing to do with the cartoon... Then again, it does feel exactly like that
Guessing the link

The robotech idea in Comment 2 makes the most sense to me. Sam Raimi has worked with Tobey Maquire before, and Tobey Maquire's production company currently has the rights to Robotech, Live Action Movie. I wouldn't be surprised if it's Robotech in disguise. Still, if it turns out to be Robotech, I would be very happy that Sam's involved.
http://redshoulder.deviantart.com/gallery/ Marc McKenzie

@Chris H.: Nice post! Glad to see someone bring up RT/Macross and the Turtledove "World War" series. Granted, this is still in the early stages, but I'm interested to see where it goes and what the final product will be....
silver

can't wait to see a Warcraft movie from Raimi, hope he has a part for Bruce Campbell
http://www.freewebs.com/demonictoys/ Toyland Chairman

Reminds me of ROBOTECH, but could just be coincidence. Might be okay if it was, I doubted the series would be anything like the series. Surprising thing is that's why a lot of people hate the 1986 animated movie. Time will tell.
http://www.freewebs.com/demonictoys/ Toyland Chairman

Whoops. Live action be anything like the series I mean.