Female writing/producing duo Monica Breen and Alison Schapker are long-term collaborators of J.J. Abrams. Having worked on his TV shows Alias and Lost, they have also just renewed a deal with Warner Bros to co-executive produce Fringe for a fourth season. They are also said to be developing another series for Abrams’ Bad Robot company.
The big news however, is that the pair have been hired to rewrite a new top-secret movie project for Abrams at Paramount Pictures. The script is for a film with the working title Zanbato – which literally translates as “horse-slaying sword”. It combines Japanese history and robots. Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) was originally attached to direct the film but is now no longer involved.
With J.J. Abrams’ previous mystery project Cloverfield resulting in a hit and a similar secretive strategy building up the anticipation and excitement for this summer’s Super 8 (due August 19th in UK cinemas), it’s likely that further information on this movie will be hard to come by until much closer to its release. It’s a technique that seems to pay off in an industry where spoilers and leaks are now everyday occurrences.
Originally published April 20, 2011. Updated April 10, 2018.
