Back in September, we brought you the news when Sony Pictures acquired the distribution rights to director Roland Emmerich‘s sci-fi project, entitled Singularity and scheduled a May 17th, 2013 release date for the film.

Now, Variety reports that Sony Pictures has stopped production on the film and asked the director to spend more time developing the script before spending more money on the $175 million sci-fi epic. Emmerich and co-writer Harald Kloser have reportedly enlisted the help of futurist, author and father of the term “singularity” Raymond Kurzweil to help revise the script.

The film is said to be set 50 years in the future, and follows a famous nanotechnology pioneer who uses a dangerous new procedure to save his badly-injured son, Adam, whose consciousness is transferred into a swarm of nanobots that take his physical form, giving him all sorts of powers. The protagonist then ends up on the run from an evil corporation that developed the technology.

Despite the setback, studio insiders told the trade that the project is not in danger of missing its targeted release date.

Singularity is slated to hit theaters on May 17th, 2013.