MGM Picks Up "The How-To Guide for Saving the World"

What if you were a loser (hypothetically speaking, because no Film Gecko reader is a loser), and found a book on how to prevent an alien invasion of the Earth? And then had to use that knowledge when one actually occurs?

Such is the premise of “The How-To Guide for Saving the World,” an action comedy picked up by MGM with Barry Sonnenfeld attached to direct and produce.

Apparently, the script by BenDavid Grabinski landed enough votes among execs to make this year’s unofficial Black List of “most liked” screenplays.

More after the jump…

Sonnenfeld says, “I loved the writing and the concept: What would happen if, one afternoon, the secret group that protects Earth from alien invaders was wiped out? Fortunately, they left behind an instruction manual for saving Earth. Unfortunately, a non-action-hero guy — not unlike me in terms of manliness — and a woman who hates him find the book and have to save the planet from an impending attack.”

Sonnenfeld has a history of working with Will Smith (“Men in Black,” “Wild, Wild West”), so I wonder if he’ll be cast as the lead … inquiring minds…

Image: Barry Sonnenfeld, Big Trouble, Touchstone Pictures, 2002