Gunpowder & Sky’s Dust Develops “Moreau”, A TV Series with a Modern Spin on the H.G. Wells Classic Novel “The Island of Dr. Moreau”

Gunpowder & Sky’s sci-fi label DUST announced today that they are developing “Moreau“, a sci-fi TV series that puts a modern spin on the classic novel, “The Island of Dr. Moreau“, by H.G. Wells. Zack Stentz (X-Men: First Class, Thor, Rim Of The World, “Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous”, “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”) is attached to write the series.

“The double helix wasn’t even a twinkle in Watson & Crick’s eye when H.G. Wells first wrote ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau‘, but his 1896 novel proved astonishingly prescient about how unlocking the secrets of DNA would open the door to humanity playing God with the natural world in strange and frightening ways,” said Stentz. “And now, in the shadow of the CRISPR revolution, it felt like the perfect time to revisit Moreau and bring it into our own 21st Century world of transgenic animals, designer babies and other scientific advances Wells never could have dreamed of. I’m delighted to be working with Eric, Geoff & the Gunpowder & Sky team to welcome a whole new generation to the good doctor’s terrifying island.”

“Moreau” focuses on world-renowned scientist Dr. Jessica Moreau, whose pioneering work in genetic engineering catches the eye of a billionaire backer willing to stop at nothing to reach the next step of human evolution.

“Zack took a time-honored classic and brought it into the 21st century,” said Eric Bromberg, SVP, Gunpowder & Sky. “Together, we’re creating a story that’s scarily befitting of today’s world, filled with seemingly limitless, and oftentimes alarming, scientific advancements. Frankenstein and Doudna have nothing on Jessica Moreau.”

Stentz is repped by Circle of Confusion, a leading management and production company that partnered with Gunpowder & Sky in April to develop and produce feature films and series that are sourced from writers, directors and producers who have had their work released on DUST or ALTER, Gunpowder & Sky’s sci-fi and horror brands, respectively.

“This series gives us a chance to work with Zack, one of the most prolific writers in the business,” said Geoffrey James Clark, Executive Producer, Gunpowder & Sky. “We couldn’t have genetically engineered a better writer for this project and can’t wait to take sci-fi fans on a wild ride with Zack driving.”

This news comes on the heels of a series of announcements from Gunpowder & Sky. Recently, Gunpowder & Sky’s DUST announced that they teamed up with John Wick creator Derek Kolstad, John Davis (Predator), and Black Label Media (Sicario, La La Land) on Time Agent, a high-octane time travel feature film. In September, DUST announced that they have partnered with legendary filmmaker, Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man, Encounters at the End of the World, Into The Inferno, Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds) and his son, Rudolph Herzog (How to Fake a War, The Heist) to produce Last Exit: Space, a new, out-of-this-world documentary exploring mankind’s push to colonize space. In September, DUST launched season three of its hit “DUST” podcast series, starring and executive produced by Emmy Award-nominated Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton, 6 Underground, “Macbeth”) and co-stars Academy Award-nominated Toni Collette (“United States of Tara”, Hereditary, The Sixth Sense), which is the #1 fiction podcast on Apple. In July, Gunpowder & Sky acquired the worldwide rights – from the producers of “The Last Dance” – to the UFC inception documentary UFC 1: Origins of the Octagon. Premiering this fall, the feature film traces the roots of the pro-MMA league back to its tumultuous first event in 1993. Gunpowder & Sky’s DUST also launched the first-ever live streaming premiere of the critically-acclaimed sci-fi/thriller, Sea Fever, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and is now available on Hulu.

ABOUT DUST

DUST is the first premium sci-fi entertainment brand and channel that reaches fans across all platforms, giving voice to both emerging and established filmmakers. From timeless classics to cutting-edge movies, series, short films and podcasts, DUST acquires, produces and distributes all content types.

Since its inception, DUST released the critically-acclaimed sci-fi/thriller, Sea Fever which debuted at the Toronto Film Festival and is now available on Hulu; released three seasons of its hit “DUST” podcast series, starring and executive produced by Emmy Award-nominated Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton, 6 Underground, “Macbeth”) and co-stars Academy Award-nominated Toni Collette (“United States of Tara”, Hereditary, The Sixth Sense), and is the #1 fiction podcast on Apple; the feature film Prospect starring Pedro Pascal (“The Mandalorian”, “Narcos”, “Game of Thrones”, Equalizer 2), which also premiered in the U.S. on Hulu and internationally on Netflix; “The Time Agent” a Korean short film which DUST is now developing into a feature film in partnership with John Davis (Predator franchise, iRobot, Waterworld, the upcoming Jungle Cruise), and Black Label Media (La La Land, Sicario) and written by Derek Kolstad (John Wick franchise). DUST has also released Small Soldiers, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, Escape from LA, Paul Feig’s “Other Space”, the Star Trek movies, Galaxy Quest, “The Invisible Man”, “Roswell”, Total Recall, A Boy and His Dog, Tokyo!, Saturn 3, “Logan’s Run”, “Psychic Investigators”, Coneheads, and nearly a 1000 short films including Bad Peter directed by Zach Strauss and starring Golden-Globe nominee Frankie Shaw (“SMILF”); Zero, directed by the Brothers Lynch and starring Bella Ramsey (“Game of Thrones”); George Lucas 1967 short film, “Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB”; Robert Zemeckis’ 1972 student short film “The Lift; Rian Johnson’s student short film “Evil Demon Golf Ball From Hell”.