‘Wall-E,’ ‘Finding Nemo’ Director Andrew Stanton To Direct Live-Action Feature ‘In The Blink Of An Eye’

Two-time Oscar-winning Wall-E and Finding Nemo director Andrew Stanton is sticking with live action for his next feature, In the Blink of an Eye.

Stanton has been lined up to direct the sci-fi drama which is being produced by the Walt Disney Company’s Searchlight Pictures and was written by Colby Day. Jared Ian Goldman (Ingrid Goes West, Russian Doll) will produce.

In the Blink of an Eye is described as a sprawling, ambitious project that will explore the entire history of the world and address the biggest questions facing humanity by intersecting three unique storylines. According to The Hollywood Reporter, which announced Stanton’s involvement, films like Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia are being suggested as analogs.

Stanton’s resume would seem to suggest that he could be just the man for this kind of job. His work, even in the kids and family space, often focuses on universal and impactful experiences that most in any audience can relate to, but which can be difficult to process. Whether it’s plastic toys in Toy Story, fish in Finding Nemo, or a nearly mute robot in Wall-E, the stars of films written or directed by Stanton often face existential questions like those being proposed by In the Blink of an Eye.

Most recently his directing work has been in tv on more adult-aimed programming such as For All Mankind, Better Call Saul, and Stranger Things, among others. His live-action feature debut came in 2012 when he adapted the space epic John Carter for Disney.

In addition to writing, Day will also executive produce. Searchlight’s Taylor Friedman and Apolline Berty are overseeing production and will report to the company’s heads of production and development Katie Goodson-Thomas and DanTram Nguyen.