DreamWorks Reactivates Colin Trevorrow Time-Travel Script (Exclusive)

Tim Dowling, who wrote 'Pixels' and 'This Means War,' is writing a new draft of 'Stealing Time.'

An old Colin Trevorrow project is getting a new lease on life.

DreamWorks has reactivated Stealing Time, a time-travel adventure based on an old script by the director of the $1.7 billion-grossing Jurassic World (who recently was hired to helm Star Wars: Episode IX), and it has tapped Tim Dowling to pen a new draft.

The story involves a scientist who flees into the past to protect his time machine, forcing his son and grandson to rebuild the device in the present to rescue him, all while fleeing crooks bent on exploiting time travel.

The project originally was set up at Columbia around seven years ago and had Walt Becker (Wild Hogs) attached to direct. When Trevorrow was in post on Jurassic, DreamWorks and its head, Steven Spielberg, saw a chance to revive Stealing Time.

Bob Cooper and Charles Segars, who were attached to produce Time when it was at Columbia, remain on board. Trevorrow will act as an executive producer, along with Jeff Phillips. (Becker no longer is involved.)

DreamWorks, via its CEO, Michael Wright, is making a concerted effort to focus on projects that recall the tone of some of the Amblin adventure movies produced by Spielberg in the 1980s, and Time is said to fall into that category.

Trevorrow has fans in Spielberg and his execs, who believe that the rising filmmaker fits that Amblin bill. And they already have picked up another one of his projects, the sci-fi-tinged Intelligent Life.

Dowling, who's writing the new draft, may be best known for his comedies Role Models and Just Go With It, but he has a love for genre fare, as seen in the action romance This Means War, which starred Tom Hardy and Chris Pine fighting for the affection of Reese Witherspoon, and this summer’s '80s-arcade-game love letter, Pixels, which has grossed more than $220 million worldwide.

Dowling is also a fan of the work of Spielberg and George Lucas, getting his big break co-writing the Star Wars-themed short George Lucas in Love while at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.

He is repped by CAA, Mosaic and Stone Meyer.