Daniel H. Wilson sold Robopocalypse to Jason Kaufman at Doubleday. The book, “about the fate of the human race following a robot uprising,” is scheduled for publication in 2011. The deal was handled by Laurie Fox of the Linda Chester Literary Agency for world rights.
Simultaneously with the book deal, Mark Sourian and Holly Bario at DreamWorks acquired the film rights from agent Justin Manask. The studio intends to “fast-track” the project, according to Variety. Sourian says “Wilson’s cautionary tale of man vs. machine grabbed us from the very beginning. [His] background in robotics and artificial intelligence grounds his story with a frightening level of realism.”
Wilson has a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute, is a contributing editor to Popular Mechanics, and hosted the History Channel’s The Works. He is already the author of Mad Scientist Hall of Fame: Muwahahahaha! (2008), How to Build a Robot Army: Tips on Defending Planet Earth Against Alien Invaders, Ninjas, and Zombies (2007), Where’s My Jetpack?: A Guide to the Amazing Science Fiction Future that Never Arrived (2007), How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion (2005), and the forthcoming Bro-Jitsu: The Martial Art of Sibling Smackdown (which is currently under option to Nickelodeon Movies).