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Veteran British filmmaker Val Guest, who produced, directed and co-wrote the original “The Day the Earth Caught Fire” (1962), tells us that “pens are now poised” over contracts for a remake. Guest will co-write and co-produce with Robert Sidaway, for the London-based Winchester Films.

Originally set on London’s Fleet Street, the sci-fi feature revolves around a reporter (played by a pre-”Rumpole” Leo McKern) who learns that simultaneous U.S. and Soviet bomb tests have knocked the Earth off its axis and sent it hurtling toward the sun. The remake will be set in the United States.

“Suddenly, all the headlines are right out of my old movie,” says Guest, referring to concern about global warming.