April 1, 2002
Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, the production team behind "Independence Day," are collaborating with "Rain Man" screenwriter Ron Bass on a new film about the world of online chat rooms.

The Scifi.com website said the duo is waiting Bass's finished screenplay before moving forward with the project.

"He's still working on the script, and we're real anxious to see it. So we'll see how it goes," Devlin told Scifi.com. "The story he pitched was a wonderful idea. He's an amazingly talented writer."

Despite the duo's penchant for effects-heavy films, the new project will be a character-driven love story, Devlin said.

Devlin told Scifi.com that he is also developing an action-adventure film entitled "The Murder Of Tutankamen," about the mystery surrounding the death of the Egyptian king.