It's been ages since I read the script for Passengers, a film that Jon Spaihts wrote and was to see made into a film with Keanu Reeves as one of the two leads, over three years in fact. Now it looks like the film is finally moving forward as a director who has been working on some big name television shows is about to board.

The film has an interesting concept, and I found the script interesting. It's also becoming rather relevant these days with the talk of a mission to Mars and the possibility of sending a couple on the rather long journey.

That's what Passengers is about. The story sees a spaceship heading to a far off planet and the huge cargo of settlers in a cryogenic sleep for the entire trip, packed with everything that they would need for settling life on the new planet. During the journey a malfunction means that one of the settlers is awoken and must live out his life on the ship, ensuring that he will never reach the planet alive, dying on board the ship alone.

Eventually, after trying to live this way, he causes another chamber to deliver its contents early, awaking another person to share his fate, a beautiful woman.

As time goes on feelings build between the two and all the while he holds the truth about why she awoke.

It's a clever story that has much more happening aboard the ship than you might expect as well as the love story between the two and where you expect it to go. I enjoyed it and with the news it's starting up again I might just read it again.

Of course it will have gone through a rewrite or two by the time the director gets to it, oh and that reminds me I haven't mentioned who it is yet. Deadline through First Showing, who don't provide a link to the source, say that the director is Brian Kirk.

Kirk, it feels weird writing that name about someone that isn't fictional, has directed episodes on a number of strong shows including Luther, Brotherhood, Dexter, Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones.

It also says that Keanu Reeves is still set to star in the film, although I would wait until I hear that for certain to be totally convinced. It's been a long time since we first heard the news and Reeves may not be considered the big star he was back then.

There's nothing about who would play the woman aboard the ship as yet, but if you want to read an early draft of the script from Jon Spaihts then you can still find it out there through the Interflab, or you can read what I thought of it without any spoilers and perhaps get a feel for who would be good to play the roles.