John Ridley Developing ‘Caves Of Steel’ Film Based On Isaac Asimov Sci-Fi Novel For 20th Century Studios

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: John Ridley, the Oscar winner behind 12 Years a Slave, is developing a feature take on Isaac Asimov’s 1954 sci-fi novel The Caves of Steel for 20th Century Studios, Deadline can reveal.

Ridley plans to direct Caves of Steel, having written the most recent draft of the script with Cheo Hodari Coker, the multi-hyphenate best known for creating Marvel’s Luke Cage.

A landmark work of science fiction, which is the first in Asimov’s Robot series, The Caves of Steel introduces readers to a future Earth where humanity has retreated into vast, domed cities — known as the “Caves of Steel” — to escape the harshness of the outside world.

The story follows Elijah Baley, a New York City detective who is reluctantly partnered with R. Daneel Olivaw, a humanoid robot, to solve the high-profile murder of a “Spacer” scientist. (Spacers, we learn, are the descendants of Earth-born humans who have colonized other planets in the galaxy.) As Baley navigates the investigation, tensions arise between Earth’s overcrowded, robot-wary society and the more advanced Spacer civilizations, which embrace robotic integration.