Next, 2007, Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel
Next is a 2007 film loosely based on the science fiction short story "The Golden Man" by Philip K. Dick although the resemblance is minimal. The film is directed by Lee Tamahori and stars Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, and Jessica Biel. The film was released on April 27, 2007 but was poorly received compared to other "adaptations" of Dick's work such as Blade Runner and Minority Report.
Gary Goldman and Jason Koornick initially optioned the science fiction short story The Golden Man by Philip K. Dick. Goldman wrote a script treatment that he and Koornick presented to Nicolas Cage's production company, Saturn Films, but Goldman ended up writing the screenplay on spec.
This first draft had more similarities to the short story, detailing the efforts of a government agency to capture and contain a precognitive mutant.
To provide greater interaction between the opposing parties(as well as create a leading role), Cris was changed from a feral animal whose existence threatened humanity's into a more familiar social outcast. A romantic subplot was added: the character of Liz Cooper, who in this draft was not only destined to be the love of Cris's life, but a mutant as well-the only woman he has ever met with whom he can have children, herself incapable of procreating with normal humans.
As the original short story had a distinct undercurrent of racist paranoia, the motivation for the pursuit of Cris was changed from a policy of exterminating mutations to the Department of Homeland Security's search for assets in the War on Terror, though the DHS began exhibiting this paranoia as their efforts to control Cris prove inadequate.
The DHS was explicitly depicted as a organization eager to break the law to force Cris' cooperation, as well as torture and even murder innocent civilians. It was in fact the primary antagonist of the film, with the undefined terrorists kept firmly in the background as the rarely mentioned motivation for the DHS's pursuit of Cris. Also, the script begins with Cris coming to the conclusion that the DHS plans to imprison him for the rest of his life (thus ensuring access to his abilities), and never disproves this theory.
On top of this, the climax of the script has Cris using a seized bomb to destroy the Las Vegas DHS headquarters, the instant before Liz is to be executed to preemptively prove to Cris the government's determination to possess him.
This script was rewritten, replacing the DHS with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, decreasing the organization's demand for Cris's obedience and adding a confrontation with the (still undefined) terrorists, with him willingly cooperating with the FBI.
Saturn Films, pleased with the result, brought it to the attention of Revolution Studios. Revolution Studios acquired the screenplay and in November 2004, Revolution Studios hired Lee Tamahori to direct the film, titled Next, with actor Nicolas Cage cast in the lead role as a man who has the ability to see into the future. Filming was to begin in Summer 2005. In December 2005, actress Julianne Moore was cast as the federal agent who seeks people to help prevent future terrorism and uncovers Cage's character as a potential candidate. In November 2005, Initial Entertainment Group negotiated for rights of international distribution of Next, which had a target release date of 2007. In February 2006, actress Jessica Biel was cast as the love interest of Cage's character.
In May 2006, Starz Entertainment's 14-episode miniseries, Looking for Stars, gave 200 contestants the opportunity to earn a speaking role in Next, which was won by actor Marcus Welch.
Next originally was to be distributed by Sony Pictures (Next was set to be released on September 28, 2006), but that studio dumped it in January 2007, and Paramount Pictures subsequently picked it up and released the movie on April 27, 2007. Paramount previously released another film adaptation of a Philip K. Dick short story, Paycheck, and owns the US rights to yet another, Minority Report via its acquisition of DreamWorks.
Next is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America film for intense sequences of violent action and some profane language. Wikipedia
