D.J. Caruso Will Trash the World with ‘Invertigo’

D.J. Caurso was announced to be in final negotiations for the science-fiction disaster movie 'Invertigo,' but it looks like it will happen with or without him: The film already has a release date of March 7, 2014. It's being produced by Neal Mortiz - who's coming off a hit with '21 Jump Street' - and was written by Ehren Kruger ('Scream 3,' 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon') and Bradley Cramp (who has been a producer on most of Andrew Niccol's movies).

The Hollywood Reporter got the film's logline, which is as follows:

"A long lost NASA space probe mysteriously crash lands in New York City, apparently under the influence of a "dark energy" force that drives the universe's expansion. But the scientific curiosity soon becomes a disaster of cataclysmic proportions as Earth's own gravity is disrupted and eventually reversed, causing skyscrapers and bridges to be ripped from the ground and rivers to rain from the sky. A team led by the Office of Emergency Management supervisor is forced to mount a desperate mission into upside-down Manhattan to avert the entire planet's destruction."

D.J. Caruso's career to this point has been a mostly downward trajectory. He started with some television, and that lead to 'The Salton Sea,' which felt like a late-stage entry in the "let's rip off Quentin Tarantino" genre of films. He went back to TV, directed 'Two for the Money' (remember it? It starred Mathew McConaughey and Al Pacino), and then brought his cinematic career back to life with 'Disturbia,' which was a teen version of 'Rear Window.' It launched both Caruso and Shia LaBeouf into the big time. But then came 'Eagle Eye' and 'I Am Number Four,' both of which are rather terrible.

He's now got 'Goat Island' in the can, so perhaps that changes things. But it's hard to work up much enthusiasm for this behind-the-scenes team.