Robert Zemeckis Involved with Flight and a Gnome Slasher

Robert Zemeckis, champion of all things motion capture animation since 2004’sThe Polar Express, may be returning to live-action cinema with Paramount Pictures’Flight.

According toDeadline, the studio is in early discussions with Zemeckis, who also directed’80s classicsBack to the FutureandWho Framed Roger Rabbit?, to come aboard the feature, which already has Denzel Washington attached to star. The last live-action movie Zemeckis directed by 2000’sCast Awaystarring Tom Hanks and a volleyball.

Flightwould be a variation on the crashed plane concept only the protagonist, Whip Whitaker, manages to pilot the malfunctioning plane to safety and become a hero. However, when an investigation into the accident occurs, the pilot’s union discovers Whitaker was working while under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

The possibility is exciting since Zemeckis has been indulging in motion capture for a decade and many have been itching to see the Oscar winner return to directing actual human actors, not CGI models slumped in the uncanny valley. Plus, the story has vague similarities to that of U.S. Airways pilot Chesley“Sully” Sullenberger,” who successfully landed an Airbus A320 on the Hudson River in 2009 and became a national hero. It’s also extra timely at the moment given the recent streak of air traffic controllers canned for sleeping on the job (and the media’s obsession with each incident). But does John Gatins’ script have that emotional core that earned him acclaim forForrest Gump? I’m not sure, especially for what is essentially a comeback for Zemeckis.

But the 58-year-old director isn’t entirely out of animation. Zemeckis is attached to produce Sony Pictures Animation’sHow to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack, an adaptation of a survival guide on how to navigate safely through a garden gnome uprising and home invasion. Of course, it won’t be R-rated, despite some reports to the contrary. What mainstream animated movie has been R recently?

Zemeckis’ most recent outing— a motion capture movie, naturally— was a Beatles-centered film titledYellow Submarine, but Disney dumped the project in March.

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