Legendary Pictures has brought Stephen Norrington aboard to write and direct, “The Lost Patrol”. Norrington has directed previous comic book adaptations “Blade” and “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,” and is currently in development on a new screen iteration of “The Crow” for Relativity as well. Plot details for “The Lost Patrol” are being kept under wraps though it is described as a supernatural action thriller set against the backdrop of World War II. .
Norrington said the project hit all of his “geek-buttons” and contains “hardware, heroes, grime, insane monsters.”
[Note]
The picture above is taken from the poster for the 1934 war movie entitled “The Lost Patrol”, by RKO – which starred horror icon Boris Karloff. Were not suggesting that Norrington’s film has anything to do with that film, but check out the plot synopsis for the 1934 film below. Change the setting to WWII, and replace the enemy snipers with Norrington’s aforementioned “insane monsters”… what do you think?
During World War I, the commanding officer of a small British patrol in the Mesopotamian desert is shot and killed by an unseen Arab sniper, leaving the Sergeant (Victor McLaglen) at a loss, since he had not been informed what their mission was. He decides to try to rejoin the brigade, even though he does not know where they are or where he is.
Eventually, the eleven men reach an oasis. During the night, one of the sentries is killed, the other seriously wounded, and all their horses are stolen, leaving them stranded. One by one, the remaining men are picked off by the unseen enemy. In desperation, the Sergeant sends two men chosen by lot on foot for help, but they are caught and tortured to death, before their bodies are sent back. The pilot of a British biplane spots the survivors, but nonchalantly lands nearby and is killed before he can be warned. The men take the machine gun from the plane and set the plane on fire in a desperate bid to attract British troops. Sanders (Boris Karloff), a religious fanatic, goes mad.
In the end, only the Sergeant is left. When the Arabs finally show themselves, he manages to kill them all with the machine gun he took from the airplane. Moments later, another British patrol arrives, attracted by the smoke from the burning plane.
