"Lost" producer eyes earthquake film

By Borys Kit and Jay A. Fernandez

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - J.J. Abrams wants to make the earth move for you.

The producer of "Lost" and director of the upcoming "Star Trek" movie is working with David Seltzer, the screenwriter of the original "Omen," to shake up audiences with a disaster flick involving an earthquake.

The untitled Universal project is not intended to be a remake of the studio's 1974 movie "Earthquake," which spawned a stop on the its popular studio tour.

Details of the story are being kept in a seemingly tremor-proof vault, though as is Abrams' modus operandi, relationships will be at the core of the project. Abrams arguably rewrote the rules for disaster flicks with the winter box office champ "Cloverfield," which thrust the big story to the background by making the audience see the bedlam through the prism of a personal relationship.

Abrams is finishing up directing "Star Trek" for its May 2009 release. At the moment, plans only to produce the "Earthquake" revamp. Seltzer has a "Strangers on a Train" remake in development at Warner Bros.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter