Will Smith reteams with 'Men in Black' writer for 'Colossus' remake

In development for going on six years, Will Smith's planned remake of 1970 sci-fi classic Colossus: The Forbin Project looked like it was dead and buried. But when a studio has a star as big as Smith clearly enthused about the film, nothing is ever truly gone for long, and now Universal Pictures has given it new life by hiring Men in Black scribe Ed Solomon to rewrite the script.

The original story followed Dr. Charles Forbin, an engineer who thinks he's devised the perfect supercomputer to control the nuclear arsenals of the U.S. and Allied forces. But when the Soviets reveal their own such computer, the two systems communicate and decide that maybe the world would be better off without all those pesky humans.

Solomon will be taking over for Blake Masters and Jason Rothenberg, whose plan was to use major elements from the 1966 novel, then combine parts of the two follow-up Colossus books. It's unclear if Solomon will continue that approach as plot details are being kept under lock and key. With Smith on board, it's likely that Universal will want to build this into a franchise.