Filmmaking Legend Ridley Scott set to adapt The Day Britain Stopped

Hollywood filmmaking legend Ridley Scott who last brought us the blockbuster smash Prometheus has set his sights on adapting The Day Britain Stopped for 20th Century Fox.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Scott will produce the disaster flick based on the 2003 BBC fictional documentary drama alongside Steve Zaillian.

The original docudrama was based around a catastrophic event which sees all of Britain's transport systems grind to a halt on a freezing December day.

Services are crippled across the country as major and minor accidents prevent essential workers including doctors, nurses, air traffic controllers and firemen from travelling to where they are needed.

As the police attempt to implement a last-ditch contingency plan, two planes collide in the skies over West London.

Word is that the film will be inspired by the original rather than a direct adaptation and while there is no writer attached, Scott and Zaillian are looking for the right scribe to set the disaster against a global background.

Scott will next direct his Prometheus star Michael Fassbender in The Counselor alongside Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz and Dean Norris, he also serves as produce for has the TV series Pompeii which in production.