The majority of Andrew Stanton’s resume consists of work on animated features. But now the famed director is returning to live-action with In the Blink of an Eye, a science fiction feature for Searchlight Pictures. The Hollywood Reporter first revealed the film’s progress and Stanton’s return to a live-action set. The film plot has been kept under wraps. Nonetheless, THR has learned that In the Blink of an Eye would “cover no less than the history of the globe and examine the nature of life, love, hope, and connection.” To do this, the film will use three intertwining stories spanning thousands of years.
Supposedly, Stanton will draw inspiration from three of the best science fiction and drama films of all time: Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia. No announcements about a prospective cast or the commencement of production were made. Stanton, who is most recognised for his work with Pixar Animation Studios, makes a rare venture into live-action filmmaking in In the Blink of an Eye. He has helmed a number of Pixar’s most recognisable and successful features, including A Bug’s Life (1998), Wall-E (2008), Finding Nemo (2003), and Finding Dory (2016).
In addition, he collaborated on the scripts for all four Toy Story features and 2001’s Monsters, Inc. Stanton has worked in live-action before, but his expertise with animation makes up the bulk of his work’s popularity. Although he directed the science fiction feature John Carter in 2012, much of his live-action work has been on television, where he has directed episodes of critically praised programmes including Better Call Saul, Legion, For All Mankind, and Stranger Things. He has been nominated for 6 Oscars for his work, and he has taken home two. Even though Stanton is the film’s major attraction, a slew of other A-list Hollywood veterans will be contributing to the production. Jared Ian Goldman, renowned for his roles in Russian Doll on Netflix and Ingrid Goes West, will serve as a producer on In the Blink of an Eye.
Colby Day, who penned the script for the film and will also serve as an executive producer, will be working on the project. Several years after Day first created the script, it was included in the 2017 Black Selection, an annual list of the finest unproduced scripts. Day also penned the screenplay for Spaceman, a Netflix-directed science fiction drama film starring Adam Sandler and Carey Mulligan. Pre-production on the picture will be supervised by Goldman, Day, and many other Searchlight production leaders.
As of yet, In the Blink of an Eye has not been scheduled for a wide theatrical release.