Quick Cuts

Dueling ‘Battlefields’

While perusing The Times’ movie files we came upon the following 1985 photo and press release from Dateline Communications announcing the development of the sci-fi thriller “Battlefield Earth”: “It’s 3000 AD. Earth has been conquered by Psychlo invaders and a handful of survivors flee desperately from Terl, the planet’s ‘security director’--or, at least, from a 30-foot-high version of Terl that movie audiences may see when L. Ron Hubbard’s gas-breathing alien menace reaches the screen. The [movie project] is under development by William Immerman’s Salem Productions, with Ken Annakin (“Battle of the Bulge,” “Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines”) directing.” Another release claims that the famous blacklisted screenwriter Abraham Polonsky would adapt the Hubbard sci-fi novel for the screen. Alas, that version never came to pass, perhaps thankfully when you compare the 1985 inflatable Terl to the photo of actor John Travolta as the same space villain in Warner Bros.’ upcoming sci-fi thriller. “Battlefield Earth” will hit theaters May 12.