Ridley Scott, Asif Kapadia Teaming up to Adapt Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Ridley Scott (Alien) and Oscar-winning documentarian Asif Kapadia (Amy) are teaming up on a project with, well, let’s just say an ambitious amount of subject material—like, maybe that of the entire history of humankind. The two directors are collaborating to adapt Yuval Noah Harari’s non-fiction bestseller Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, according to THR.

The book was first published in 2011 and, after selling eight million copies, has since been translated into 30 languages. In it, Harari surveys human history, from the evolution of Homo sapiens in the Stone Age through our 21st century technological achievements, in an attempt to explore how humans became the dominant species on Earth. The author is currently a history professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Given the breadth of material contained in the book (read: approximately 300,000 years’ worth), the format for the project is not yet confirmed, though right now, “a multiplatform event experience is imagined.”

Scott is set to produce, with Kapadia at the helm of the project. The collaboration has been a long time coming: Scott first approached Kapadia after seeing The Warrior, his 2001 film debut. “For years Asif and I have been looking for a project to collaborate on,” said Scott. “And Sapiens has all the elements to be massively entertaining as well as historically important.”