Avatar success leads to renewed interest in sci-fi projects Ion, Pacific Rim, Logan’s Run and more |

According to HeatVisionBlog, Fox 2000 Pictures is circling an original spec script by Will Dunn titled Ion, which is generating interest from several studios.

Channing Tatum is attached to star in the project, with Ridley and Tony Scott attached to produce.

Ion centers on a man who travels to different Earths and dimensions in order to find his reincarnated lover. According to the report, the studio is using the word “Avatar” to describe the scope of the project, which actually made the rounds last year but didn’t take.

The release of Avatar and its subsequent success, however, apparently generated renewed interest.

Execs are crediting Avatar, as well as Star Trek and District 9, for opening the door for sci-fi projects like never before.

Since Avatar’s release, a number of projects have been set up, including:

All You Need is Kill, which is based on a Japanese novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, and tells the story of a new recruit in a war against aliens who finds himself caught in a time loop where he wakes up one day in the past after having been killed on the battlefield. Bourne Identity director Doug Liman may direct that movie.
Mass Effect, the Electronic Arts-BioWare video game which Legendary Pictures nabbed film rights to. I Am Legend writer Mark Protosevich, who also worked on Thor, is writing the screenplay. The galaxy-spanning story involves a long-extinct race of aliens.
Pacific Rim, a 25-page treatment which Legendary picked up from Clash of the Titans writer Travis Beacham, is reportedly set in a future where malevolent creatures threaten the earth, and the planet must band together and use highly advanced technology to eliminate the growing menace.
Logan’s Run, which has been in development at Warners for years, now has Carl Rinsch – who’s currently developing a Creature from the Black Lagoon remake – on board to direct, and 28 Days Later writer Alex Garland writing the script.