Monday 17 May 2010

Battling Nemos

I was, I have to say, psyched at the idea of David Fincher directing a version of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea for Disney.

But today's news that Fox is preparing its own version of Jules Verne's classic tale could conceivably scupper Fincher's film before it even gets going, as his chosen screenwriter, Scott Burns, has yet put finger to keyboard on the script yet. Whereas Fox already has the Scott brothers on board to produce, Timur Bekmambetov in mind to direct, and, perhaps more importantly, a finished script by Clash Of The Titans co-writer Travis Beacham (whose unproduced Killing On Carnival Row screenplay I just love).

There have been a few instances of rival Hollywood studios racing to complete two similar and competing projects in order to be the first to reach the big screen — Armageddon and Deep Impact being one such case — but with Fincher apparently already scouting locations for his English-language remake of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, his Verne adaptation might, potentially, dead in the water without even leaving port.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I pulling for the Fincher-Burns version. It should be interesting to see how much leeway Disney gives him but I can't see him signing on for anything less than final cut. I also like how his take is going to be akin to THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Yes!

Mark Salisbury said...

I agree. I've very keen to see how his sensibilities align with those of the Mouse...