Sci Fi Wire recently spoke with writer J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5), who is currently working on a screenplay for the remake of the 1956 classic Forbidden Planet. According to Straczynski, there will be more action than in the original, but overall the film will remain true to its character-driven roots.

The writer told Sci Fi Wire:

There's a little more action, but it's still a strong character piece, because it's based on [Shakespeare's] The Tempest and the idea of a father whose daughter is being courted by, in the original play, sailors that are washed up on shore. ... You need to have that dynamic still in place to respect the original and the source material. So there's a fair amount of talking, but there's some really cool action pieces in it as well.

Furthermore, Straczynski's screenplay will expand on the original's backstory. The first Forbidden Planet followed a group of astronauts as they investigated the disappearance of a crew on planet Altair IV. Upon arriving, they find one survivor of the original crew, Dr. Morbius, and his daughter, Altaira, as well as an invisible monster from the most unexpected origins. According to Straczynski, the remake will add the landing and annihilation of the original crew to the plot. Straczynski said, "We've actually decided to show more of the first ship when it first arrived twenty years earlier to sort of counterpoint what's happening in the present story."

The writer also noted that sequels are a definite possibility (which probably means that the film will have a different ending from that of its source).

If the remake indeed turns out as Straczynski is planning, it seems to be trying to cover too much ground. The first Forbidden Planet was practically perfect. Clocking in a ninety-eight minutes, it does have some room, technically speaking, for elaboration. However, it's difficult to see how this complete back story -- one which would seem to require more screen time than the original plot alone -- can be crammed into a feature-length film along with the original plot without losing a significant portion of the material. The last thing we need is an ADD-generation version of Forbidden Planet.