The Next Minority Report is a Stage Play

Those hoping for a follow-up to 2002 sci-fi thriller Minority Report are getting their wish soon, but not in the way they might have predicted. Instead of a big-screen sequel, the movie is being turned into a stage play.

"I’m delighted to announce the world premiere stage version of Minority Report, based on Philip K. Dick’s short story, adapted by David Haig," says show producer Simon Friend. "We commissioned this project several years ago, but with its prescient central theme of personal technological surveillance, it has only become more alarmingly relevant to the world in which we live, despite the original story having been written in 1956."

2002’s Minority Report is inspired by Philip K. Dick's 1956 novella The Minority Report, and stars Tom Cruise as Chief John Anderton, a member of a ‘pre-crime’ police unit with the technology to see murders before they happen and arrest would-be perpetrators. That is, until Anderton himself is accused of murder.

It’s not something that immediately jumps out as lending itself to a stage format, especially given its numerous action-packed set-pieces, but the showrunners have experience.

Not only does Minority Report reunite director Max Webster with the producers of the Life of Pi’s stage version, but Friend is also currently working on a Paranormal Activity stage adaption.

Among the most notable changes to the source material is the lead character. Now, instead of John Anderton, its Julia. According to the synopsis: "In 2050, neuroscientist Dame Julia Anderton is about to launch the next phase of her pioneering Pre-Crime programme, detaining people for crimes before they are committed. But when Julia is accused of pre-murder, she’s in a race against time to save herself from her own system."

The Minority Report stage play premiers early next year in the UK, but might well tour North America later, just as The Life of Pi is doing with its upcoming Broadway production.