Straczynski writing Forbidden Planet and Pulitzer-winner writing Spider-Man 4

Hollywood is getting serious about grooming its adaptations and remakes right from the start, by hiring the best writers in the industry. According to The Hollywood Reporter, J. Michael Straczynski, who penned the Clint Eastwood film Changeling, has been tapped to write the long-in-development remake of cult sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet for Warner Bros.

Warners picked up the project from DreamWorks earlier this year, which had David Twohy (Pitch Black) attached to direct. Before that, New Line owned the rights for years.

The original was released in 1956, and followed an expedition sent from Earth to check on a colony of scientists on a distant planet. They find two members, a man named Dr. Morbius, who has found alien technology that doubled his intellect, and his daughter, both of whom have managed to survive an unseen monster scouring the planet.

The Fred Wilcox starred Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis and Leslie Nielsen, and is best known for the character Robbie the Robot.

The Reporter also states that Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, who won a Pulitzer in 2007 for his drama Rabbit Hole, is in negotiations to write Spider-Man 4 for Columbia Pictures.

Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire will return as director and star, as are producers Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad. Kirsten Dunst also is expected to return for the next installment of the franchise.

Plot details are a closely guarded secret.

According to the report. this isn’t the first time Columbia has hired respected writers for its flagship film series. Alvin Sargent, best known for 1973’s Paper Moon and 1980’s Ordinary People, was a writer on the second and third films. Michael Chabon, another Pulitzer recipient, also worked on Spider-Man 2.