Whether this story is a "Rotten Idea" to you might depend upon whether you think the reason the movie versions of a certain novel are just inherently doomed, or whether we're all just waiting for the perfect adaptation to come along. The book in question is H.G. Welles' The Island of Dr. Moreau, which was arguably way, way, ahead of its time in predicting (and inspiring) both real life innovations in genetic manipulation, and inspiring fictional stories about the same. Most of the movies that have been based on it in the last 70 years or so (like the 1977 and 1996 films with Burt Lancaster and Marlon Brando playing the title character) have been fairly widely considered to be awful. Warner Bros and producer Leonardo DiCaprio, however, appear to think they might be able to do better. DiCaprio's Appian Way production company has hired the screenwriter team of Lee Shipman and Brian McGreey (creators of the Netflix series Hemlock Grove) to adapt The Island of Dr. Moreau as a contemporary science fiction movie.
