Hey folks, Harry here... Many folks in Austin have perhaps been wondering... where in the hell is Harry? Well, I've gone black ops for a brief period here. As of this past Saturday... I'm off the map, in uncharted areas... I'm in the desert finding my lizard king, I'm in Hollywood tapping offices... I'm just not where I'm supposed to be. And I like that. As a result of being where I am not expected, I have come across... shall we say, deviously cool knowledge that... well, I shouldn't have. While ingesting the local fungi I began talking to a gila monster that was far more informed than the regular neurotoxin reptile... This Gila Monster named Bob began to tell me of little known, closed door hush hushes between James Cameron and Steven Soderbergh. Now, just 3 nights ago I saw Steven at his first test screening of TRAFFIC, 2 nights ago I heard about some of his reshoots... We all know that as soon as he's wrapped up TRAFFIC, Soderbergh is set to begin work on OCEAN'S ELEVEN... And some of us have heard whispers (not confirmed) that he and Clooney will be producing this TO THE WHITE SEA Coen brother film starring Brad Pitt. But what of Soderbergh's personal directing path after OCEAN'S ELEVEN? What other projects linger off in yonder moonlight? Well that is exactly the question that I put to Bob the Gila Monster, and ya know what that snazzy looking lizard said to me?

Well... He told me that Soderbergh has been talking with LIGHTSTORM and as a result to... James Cameron... about adapting and bringing to the screen one of the most sheerly brilliant science fiction novels that... well... period. Stanislaw Lem's SOLARIS. This isn't a 'sci-fi' film, this is hardcore SCIENCE fiction... having to do with the very limitations of science, the metaphysics of it all, the perils of history and soooo much more. This is a very important project... and you should realize that... while Soderbergh is working on the adaptation of the novel as we speak... this type of project could take a while... It's a damn hard novel to crack narratively speaking into a two and a half hour movie or less. It's equal parts philosophical and cerebral and quite frankly... as Bob the Gila Monster told me... "If anyone can make that work as well as the emotional level, he's (Soderbergh) the guy!" Amen my lizard friend...

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS ADDED BELOW!!!!!!

Having read some of the TALK BACKS below, I thought I would chime in with a response. There was a specific reason why I did not mention Andrei Tarkovsky's SOLARIS and a reason I did not refer to this endeavor as being a REMAKE of Andrei Tarkovsky's SOLARIS... The reason? Soderbergh and Cameron's LIGHTSTORM ENTERTAINMENT are not remaking Andrei Tarkovsky's SOLARIS, they are adapting Stanislaw Lem's original novel SOLARIS. Now... I wholeheartedly agree that Tarkovsky crafted a haunting and intelligently written adaptation of Stanislaw's novel. However, the film had its limitations... and one can imagine Tarkovsky's frustration at having to leave some of the novel unadapted strickly because they couldn't bring it to life. Quite a bit of the science was surgically removed in Tarkovsky's adaptation and what we got was very much... Tarkovsky's SOLARIS... and glory be that we have it. BUT... For my money, Soderbergh is every bit the filmmaker that Tarkovsky was.... They are different, but I feel they both understand cinema and all its tricks. Does Soderbergh make cheap knockoff films or incredibly thoughtful and intelligent works. Personally... this isn't Joel Schumacher making SOLARIS, this is one of the coolest and most provoking filmmakers working today.... not only that, but he is going to be exploring Intelligent Science Fiction for the first time... Personally, I wish he was working on STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND... but that's probably just me. But ya know what... go re-read Stanislaw's novel... rewatch Tarkovsky's film... and then come back and tell me there is no room for another adaptation from the original text. When we first heard that James Cameron had acquired the rights to SOLARIS... I reread the novel and saw the film. There is room. You'll see.