Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein, the directors behind the successful latest instalment of Final Destination - Final Destination Bloodlines, are in final negotiations to helm The Traveler for Paramount Studios.
According to Deadline, the filmmakers are taking over from Lee Isaac Chung, the director who was supposed to helm the film previously before the Paramount-Skydance merger took place. He reportedly left the project due to his commitments the Ocean’s 11 prequel at Warner Bros.
The Traveler is described as a sci-fi drama. Although the plotline has been kept under wraps, the film is based on the upcoming novel Traveler by author Joseph Eckert.
Also touted to be an "intimate family drama", the film exponentially develops into a science fiction odyssey. The novel follows Scott Treder, a 47-year-old biology lab technician whose life is upended when he begins to slip uncontrollably through different points in time. The story has long attracted interest for a feature-film adaptation. An earlier draft of the screenplay by Austin Everett drew notable industry buzz, landing on the Blood List, Hit List, and Black List, with MGM circling the project for development as early as 2019.
Speaking to Deadline, Lipovsky and Stein said they had been relentlessly pursuing The Traveler ever since it was housed at MGM, around the time they were riding high on the indie success of Freaks, which came before Bloodlines.
Calling it a rare script they felt an immediate and lasting connection with, Lipovsky admitted the project stayed with them for years. “I’ve been emailing our agents every six months for six years, asking for updates,” he said. “The moment it became available, we jumped in the very next day and pitched with everything we had. It felt like the one that got away all those years ago.”
Their latest film Final Destination Bloodlines, which released earlier this year, received rave reviews and was a box office hit, amassing over $300 million in collections. The sixth installment in the Final Destination film series, following Final Destination 5 (2011), Final Destination Bloodlines starred Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Anna Lore, with Brec Bassinger and Tony Todd in his final film appearance before his death.
