Update: Disney Takes Rights To Joseph Kosinski's 'Oblivion'

We've been following the progress of Tron Legacy director Joseph Kosnski's attempt to get his graphic novel Oblivion set up with a studio development deal. Kosinski came up with the story a few years ago, and set it into graphic novel format before trying to get a studio to bite.

Disney was said to be the frontrunner in the dealmaking, and now the Mouse has taken the rights to Oblivion. Where will the project fit into Kosinski's increasingly crowded slate with the studio?

If you've missed previous reports, Oblivion is

...a futuristic science fiction love story taking place in an apocalyptic future where most of the population lives in clouds above an earth surface which has been rendered for the most part uninhabitable. An earthbound soldier–stuck there repairing drones that patrol and blast a savage alien life form–encounters a beautiful woman who crashed in a craft and they have an experience that forces him to question his world view.

When I read that description I get a melange of images in mind, like shades of Miyazaki's Laputa and the Col. Kassad scenes from Dan Simmons' novel Hyperion. But the graphic novel's art looks a bit darker than that, and since the book isn't yet published we don't know how the story actually plays. (Update: Since publishing this, I've seen that the first chapter of the book is online at AICN.)

Deadline's data is that Disney paid well for the rights, and that "there is aggressive progress to production language in the deal," which says to me this one is meant to get made sooner rather than later. This deal coming on the heels of Kosinski's very successful Comic Con appearance with footage from Tron probably didn't hurt the deal process on the director's side of the table.

There are also reportedly improved deal terms for the proposed sequel to Tron Legacy, which leaves Disney in the position of having Kosinski more or less locked for three possible films: the Tron sequel, the Black Hole remake and Oblivion. Which gets made first? Oblivion has to be written, for one, and we probably won't know much until a week or two after Tron Legacy is released, when Disney can run the numbers of that film's performance.

Check Peter's last post on the project for a lot more details and background on Oblivion.