Fancy a new cinematic version of Jules Verne‘s classic novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ? How about two? In the latest course of Hollywood’s insatiable appetite to pit two competing projects about the same subject it appears that the underwater adventures of the Nautilus and crew is the dish of the day.
Both Disney and 20th Century Fox are gearing up production, with David Fincher lined up for the House of Mouse and Timur Bekmambetov being offered the project by Murdoch and co. Fox’s version would appear to be more ready with Ridley and Tony Scott‘s production company Scott Free backing the project and Clash Of The Titans co-writer Travis Beacham having turned in a script. Disney’s is decidedly less concrete with Fincher only just rumoured, after McG‘s darker vision was aborted, and Scott Z Burns deal to write the film has yet to be signed.
The classic tales sees Captain Nemo and crew take the Nautilus to explore the ocean depths encountering wondrous sights and deadly giant squids along the way. Fox’s take is set to move that action from the 1870 setting into the future, but whether it’ll be under the sea or in space is unknown.
I still have a soft spot for Disney’s 1954 version, starring Kirk Douglas, which was their first ever sci-fi adventure movie fact fans, so I’ll be quite reserved about these two until I see actual images and scenes.
