The duo who directed light-hearted classics likeThe LEGO Movieand produced thesurprisingly ambitiousSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Versehas a new project on the horizon, and it’s… different. The often-praised duo of Christopher Miller and Phil Lord will direct an upcoming film about the COVID-19 pandemic forUniversal, presumably giving fans of their work a wicked case of tonal whiplash.
Lord and Miller will direct the Universal Pictures adaptation ofThe Premonition: A Pandemic Story, a nonfiction book hot off the presses after only just being released on May 4th, 2021. Written by Michael Lewis, the novel tells the story of a small group of people who saw the impending danger in the months beforeCOVID-19 started shutting everything downafter being allowed to progress into a global catastrophe, exploring how their efforts ended up saving a great many lives despite the U.S. president’s unwillingness to take warnings about the virus seriously.
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Some may already be familiar with Lewis' work, as he also wroteThe Big Short, which told the tale of the big financial crisis of 2008 and inspired the 2015 movie of the same name. Despite that film’s comedy-drama spin on real-world events, it seems far more likely thatThe Premonitionwill take on a far more bleak and serious tone, given how things have turned out and how recent the events are. Look at it this way, making it a comedy would be like creatingthe very realTitanicboard gamebarely a year after the actual ship sank. Worldwide tragedies need a little time to breathe.
While the project currently has no screenwriter attached, some are hoping for Lord and Miller to eventually take up that role alongside their directing and producing duties. Amy Pascal will also join as a producer. She’s known for producing severalSpider-Manprojects, includingSpider-Verse, alongside Lord and Miller with her company Pascal Pictures. Pascalalso producedLittle Women, which earned her an Academy Award nomination despite a few tiny anachronisms in the movie.
It’s not terribly surprising to see a film about the pandemic itself already in the works. In fact, there are already a fair few out there that have attempted the same with varying degrees of success. ButThe Premonitionseems to be taking a slightly different approach with its focus on the unsung heroes in the early days of the pandemic, ranging from a secret team of doctors to a 13-year-old girl who makes a breakthrough with her science project.
There’s bound to be plenty of drama when this film finally comes to fruition. Maybe it won’t be the most optimistic and uplifting experience likethe endlessly wholesomeTed Lasso, but it’s an important story that needs to be told.
The Premonitionadaptation is currently in development.
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