Gore Verbinski, the director of "Pirates of the Caribbean," confirmed in an interview with Collider that the adaptation of George R. R. Martin's science-fiction horror novella "Sandkings" is still in development.
"I seem to be drawn to things I don't know how to do. I mean, I think all of this is learning, and I'm curious. I'm fascinated by the price of curiosity. I have plenty of burned fingers, but I still reach for the light. There's a short story by George R. R. Martin called \"Sandkings\" that we're developing right now — it's really, really cool."
The novella "Sandkings" was published in 1979, and a year later it won the Hugo Award for Best Novella. At the center of the story is Simon Kress, a wealthy collector of exotic and dangerous life forms. He acquires a terrarium with four colonies of alien creatures and begins conducting cruel experiments on them, which predictably spiral out of control.
Verbinski did not reveal any specific timeline or additional details, but his comments confirm that the project has not been shelved and is still in active development.