According to Variety, filmmaker Robert Zemeckis is set for a return to the sci-fi genre, having signed on to develop and produce Steel Soldiers for STX Entertainment and China’s Alibaba Pictures.
Based on a script by Kev Kaufman (Space Cowboys), the sci-fi action movie takes place in a futuristic world where humans and androids fight shoulder to shoulder and follows “a disgraced Special Forces officer being forced to train a new team of high-tech, but imperfect android soldiers, turn them into elite military officers, and lead them in a deadly mission to rescue the robot’s creator.”
“Alibaba is a trailblazer in today’s highly competitive and rapidly changing consumer marketplace,” said STXfilms chairman Adam Fogelson. “Together, we look forward to immersing audiences in the battlefield of the future.”
“Alibaba Pictures is committed to bringing the most exciting content to China and beyond,” added Alibaba Pictures president Zhang Wei. “We are delighted to partner with STX on Steel Soldiers, a project with global commercial appeal and cross-platform potential.”
Zemeckis, whose credits include the Back to the Future trilogy, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Forrest Gump and Contact, is set to produce Steel Soldiers through his ImageMovers production company alongside Jack Rapke and Jackie Levine.