Paramount Snags Rights to Ray Bradbury's 'The Martian Chronicles'
by Allie Basilica
The classic short story collection "The Martian Chronicles" will be coming to a theater near you, someday.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Paramount Pictures has inked a deal for the movie rights to Ray Bradbury's 1950 publication.
Originally the short stories, about the colonization of Mars, were published in 1940's science fiction magazines but they were later woven together to create a novel. The stories span a 60-year timeframe from 1999 through 2057.
When the Paramount flick hits theaters it will not be the first screen adaptation of the series. In 1979 NBC developed a three-episode miniseries in partnership with BBC starring Rock Hudson which Bradbury found "just boring."
Hopefully the 90-year-old author is much more enthused about producer John Davis ("Gulliver's Travels," "Predator") and his vision for a blockbuster.
Universal has held movie rights since 1997 and since then Steven Spielberg and Davis have tried getting the film up and running. Earlier this year the option reverted and now it is Paramount who will take a crack at the alien flick.
No writer has been named for the adaptation.