More Details Emerge On The Wachowskis' Film 'Cobalt Neural 9,' Which Could Be A Political Firebrand

The only film more secretive than J.J. Abrams' Super 8 may be the so-called Cobalt Neural 9, which we've been more expansively calling the 'Wachowski Siblings Gay Iraq War Romance.' We've known only the barest details about the film, but a big new report has come to light, claiming to offer a lot more details. Given what we're being told about the movie now, it is a lot more extreme than I previously suspected. Extreme enough that I'll be surprised to see it get made.

Vulture has the details of the film, saying first that the title Cobalt Neural 9 has no particular significance within the script, and is in fact likely to change again in order to preserve as much of the film's mystery as possible.

Here's your warning for everything that follows: potential large spoilers ahead.

So, as we've heard in the past, the film begins roughly 100 years into the future, and then flashes back to the now (or a few years back) to tell the story, assembled from various shaky and low-key bits of footage, of a US soldier who falls for an Iraqi soldier turned militant. The US solider is reportedly named Butch and "just wants to fuck and kill everything" until meeting his Iraqi paramour.

There's the possibility of semi-graphic sex between the two, with them dressed in burqas in one scene, and there's quite a bit of drama as their lives start to intertwine. But then "disaster strikes" the Iraqi's family's ancestral home, and the two men decide they have to rid the world of militant evil. To do this, they decide they have to assassinate George W. Bush.

This probably won't be as attention-getting as Death of a President, given that Death was released when Bush was still in office. But it would also be a film from much higher-profile filmmakers, and I can't imagine that a firestorm would fail to come into being thanks to a film that has a gay solider deciding to kill his commander-in-chief. And hey, throw in some gay sex in burqas just to make sure all possible parties are angry! All of which is fine if the characters are good and the story actually works.

The film is estimated to cost $20m, and that would be a problem if the Wachowskis weren't in a position to finance it themselves. But they'll likely still try to raise some of the financing. Can't wait to hear how that goes.

But Vulture says the pair are also continuing to develop Cloud Atlas now, too, and they'd shoot whichever one is financed first. Cloud Atlas would be more like a $90m movie and would definitely require a studio.