Seems that PROMETHEUS has really got Ridley Scott back into sci-fi in a big bad way, what with sequels to that and the seminal BLADE RUNNER already being talked about, and now comes news that his production company, Scott Free has acquired the rights to WOOL.

Nope. I’d never heard of it either, but apparently Hugh Howey’s self-published book series has legions of fans, and after doing a little research I can see why – WOOL sounds like a great yarn! …Sorry, couldn’t resist.

Set in a dystopian future after a mysterious apocalyptic event (readers are not privy to what exactly, just like its characters), WOOL explores the lives the citizens of The Silo, a huge underground city, that are forbidden to ever go the Earth’s surface. Each of the 6 books so far concentrates on a different character, but each of them adds to the mythology as we slowly learn more about The Silo’s secrets. To be honest, with a concept that rich and structure so dense they’d be better off adapting this for TV. The last time this was attempted in 90 minutes we got the highly forgettable CITY OF EMBER, and to a lesser extent, the way too rapey THE DIVIDE.

Howey’s series has generated comparisons to the insanely popular erotica FIFTY SHADES OF GREY due to its similar indie roots. That soon to be mega film franchise (which we thankfully won’t be covering within our pages) also started life online. (In fact it was once TWILIGHT fan-fic, until the author decided to grow up and create something original instead.)

We’ll have more on WOOL as it ‘unravels’…

Source: Deadline 

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