Movie Based on Myst Still in the Works

The Myst movie project has sparked back to life with the naming of two established producers.

Thursday brought reports that the planned Myst movie is still in the works, naming Hunt Lowry (Airplane!) and Mark Johnson (The Chronicles of Narnia movies)as partners in the film’s production.

News of Myst: the Motion Picture first appeared back in 2008. Independent filmmakers Patrick McIntire and Adrian Vanderbosch of Mysteria Film Group--both fans of the PC adventure game--spent the previous four years getting the project up and running. They eventually convinced Myst creator Rand Miller of Cyan to hand over the film rights.

However, instead of recreating the original PC game for the big screen, the filmmakers have chosen to base the movie on the Myst: The Book of Ti’ana novels published during the development of Myst’s sequel, Riven. The books explain the backstory of the civilization known as The D’ni and the infinite numbers of worlds they could create and control. The trilogy also tells the story of the young Earth woman who accidentally intrudes into the D’ni society and inadvertently causes its demise.

"Our aim with this project is to stretch the genres it operated within, much like the source material did," said Vanderbosch. "It is such an innovative property and by utilizing the novels as our primary resource, we have the opportunity to offer audiences the essence of Myst without being limited only to the famous island of the first game. Our focus has always been on creating an entirely new visual experience driven by engaging characters and an epic narrative."

Currently Producers Lowry and Johnson are searching for writers before they shop the Myst project to major Hollywood studios. Johnson is hoping to bring the world of Myst alive much like he did with the Narnia books. Cory Lanier and Tom Williams have also signed on as co-producers.