The producers of the recently Oscar-nominated Arrival are working on another high-stakes science-fiction story, this time from Hugo-winning Ringworld author Larry Niven. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Shawn Levy and his 21 Laps production banner have acquired the rights to Niven’s “Inconstant Moon,” a short story about facing what might very well be your last night on Earth.
Niven’s story opens with the young lovers of the planet ooh-ing and aah-ing over the moon, suddenly far brighter and larger than it’s ever appeared before. Only a few, including the protagonist and his girlfriend, realize that all that extra moonlight has to come from somewhere—like, say, the sun going supernova—and that humanity might be facing its final moments on the planet.
James Ponsoldt has been attached to direct; his last project was the well-received David Foster Wallace biopic The End Of The Tour.