The idea for Planets in Peril came while attending my film classes in the early 1990’s. Although I believe I’ve been working on the concept and the story ever since I saw Star Wars as a boy in 1977.
In my film classes I learned about story structure, characters and all the elements of great filmmaking. After re-watching and enjoying several old classics like Star Wars, Raiders of The Lost Ark, Star Trek and other fantasy adventure films I began to put to paper my own distant planetary system. But here the universe was on the verge of collapse. It wasn’t the world of Star Wars where people had been ruled for years under a dark Empire – and had not Luke come along thins would still have continued just fine. Mine was a Universe that was actually on the brink of Annihilation. And it wasn’t just about conflict between people – it was literally a conflict against the energies of the universe. Naturally I had my dark villains like The Supremacy (More on that later) and Humm. But even they were no match for what was about to happen.
My hero Nathaniel Gage was very different than a Luke Skywalker, Captain Kirk or others typically experienced in this genre. Instead he could be compared more to a Peter Parker. A young man confused literally about everything. And he didn’t fit in. Not with the heroes, not with the villains. Not with anyone. I was especially fascinated by Jovian. Jovian was a priest in the sacred temples of the Tranku. The Tranku had been selected nearly 7,000 years ago to protect the sacred manuscripts that prohpesied of these end times. (and in fact even contained some escape routes if you knew what you were looking for.) Jovian however had been exiled from the temple because he broke some of the rules. (Actually one in particular which we will talk about later.) The thing that I enjoyed about Jovian was that he had a limited degree of mystical powers. I have always been interested in the powers of the mind. Especially ESP and Telekinesis. Jovian had those powers. (Not like the force in Star wars – which had Luke by the Empire Strikes back easily pulling lightsabers out of the snow or Yoda with little effort lifting X-wings out of a swamp.) But this was more like we see in ‘real life’ where the practioner needed focused concentrated effort (even stressful at times) to make even smallest object move. This power left the practioner tired and exhausted. I did not want it something that would finish a battle quickly, nor something where you could simply choke a random person who had a lack of faith ala Darth Vader.The story evolved and grew into what it has become today. Originally it started as a story for a comic book series. Naturally the original story has grown into what has become today.
Any ways stay tuned to this blog and I will share more about the development of the story for the film. (Like most fanboys I just hope they get it right. and trust me that even harder for the creator.)
Planets in Peril has also just completed a contract for several games and apps to be available through itunes later this year. And we are currently in preproduction with the film.
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