News The Earthling The Earthling: Jonathan Marty’s Sci-Fi Short Story Adaptation Snags Final Destination: Bloodlines Directors The tale is described as having elements of The Martian and Edge of Tomorrow. By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on September 4, 2025 Credit: Warner Bros./ New Line Cinema Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: Warner Bros./ New Line Cinema There’s a new sci-fi film in the works, and this one is based on what appears to be an unpublished short story by Jonathan Marty called “The Earthling.” According to Deadline, the story was bought by Columbia Pictures in a six-figure deal after a bidding war. Final Destination: Bloodlines directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein are on board to direct. The film is being produced by Eric Heisserer, the screenwriter behind Arrival, the adaptation of Ted Chiang’s “Stories of Your Life,” and the showrunner for Shadow and Bone, the Netflix series adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s books. In addition to Heisserer, Scott Glassgold is also producing via his company, 1201 Films. We don’t have any details on what the short story is about, other than presumably it focuses on an Earthling, and that, given the title, perhaps non-Earthling characters may be involved. Other than that, the only other information we have is that Deadline describes it as having “shades of The Martian and Edge of Tomorrow.” Interpret that claim how you wish. The directors’ critical and commercial success with Final Destination: Bloodlines (our own Leah Schnelbach called it the best of the franchise, and it includes the murderous lawn mower pictured above to boot) bodes well for the project, however. The deal is brand new, so no details yet on when The Earthling will go into production, much less who will be cast as the titular Earthling. Lipovsky and Stein reportedly have a lot of projects on their plate right now, and it’s not clear how this film fits in with the others, so there might be a delay on when they’ll be able to focus on this one. [end-mark] The post <i>The Earthling</i>: Jonathan Marty’s Sci-Fi Short Story Adaptation Snags <i>Final Destination: Bloodlines</i> Directors appeared first on Reactor.