Bryan Singer to direct '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'

[Eddie Dean]

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

[terry78]

I suspect if Pitt had agreed to be Ned Land this **** would already be in pre-production. Fincher is very particular about what he wants when he does a project, almost annoyingly so. But he gives you good product when he finally gets his way, I won't deny it.

 

[Airwings]

About the "hard to agree on lead actor issue": Couldn't Fincher have suggested DiCaprio or (serious) Depp? Would Disney have said "yes"?

EDIT: Perhaps even Brendan Fraser could have worked. He's been in a bunch of adventure films.

 

[ThePowerCosmic]

lol, I don't know about Fraser.

 

[MrMaooz]

Chris Pine.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

About the "hard to agree on lead actor issue": Couldn't Fincher have suggested DiCaprio or (serious) Depp? Would Disney have said "yes"?

EDIT: Perhaps even Brendan Fraser could have worked. He's been in a bunch of adventure films.

Fraser hasn't been relevant for about a Decade lol.

 

[Tequilla]

Why's the actor must be a superstar ? . That sort of boxoffice draw is long gone.

So many great actors out there , and Fincher wont make it because he didnt find a lead...yeah i dont buy that.

 

[dark_b]

it looks like they were working very hard to get an actor that the studio and director would like. didnt work out.

 

[ThePhantasm]

Actually Depp might not make a bad Captain Nemo. So long as he doesn't turn into the main character.

 

[The Navigator]

Well, this news is one big kick in the teeth. I figured after all the silence he was going to be off one of the two projects, but both? I was really looking forward to seeing how Fincher visualized the Nautilus in particular.

 

[Airwings]

Fraser hasn't been relevant for about a Decade lol.

Was it in 2007 or 2008 he did his last fantasy adventure?
He's rumoured to play Wilhelm Tell in an upcoming film. We'll see how everything turns out.

Actually Depp might not make a bad Captain Nemo. So long as he doesn't turn into the main character.

He should be serious like he was in Public Enemies, even if the story has fantastic elements.

 

[Zeus]

Seriously Brendan Fraser? This isnt 1999....

 

[Gort Baringa]

Captain Nemo is the character that they need to get right.

Kirk Douglas was great as Ned Land in the original Disney film, but it was James Mason who made the story believable.

 

[ThePhantasm]

Captain Nemo is the character that they need to get right.

Kirk Douglas was great as Ned Land in the original Disney film, but it was James Mason who made the story believable.

I agree... Nemo is the coolest character and needs great screen presence.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

Anybody see that miniseries from years ago that Michael Caine as nemo? The series itself was meh, mostly because of Patrick Dempsey, but I thought Michael Caine made for a pretty cool nemo.

 

[dark_b]

i remember Cain as Nemo. very good effects for a low budget tv miniseries

 

[terry78]

I think we can swing it at this point to actually cast an Indian actor as Nemo, unless they just want a massive name or something. Ned Land can be somebody more recognizable.

 

[Frosty81]

I thought that given the fact they had worked together Goran Visnjic could have been a great Nemo.

 

[Lord]

Yeah, they shouldn't white wash Nemo

 

[Airwings]

Seriously Brendan Fraser? This isnt 1999....

Fraser has been relevant later than 1999!!! Or have you lived under a rock for the past 14 years?

 

[DarkSovereignty]

Jut because he's been in movies doesn't mean he's relevant.

 

[ThePowerCosmic]

lol, no to Fraser. His Mummy days are long behind him. Not that it matters with this movie now dead in the water, so to speak.

 

[Airwings]

Jut because he's been in movies doesn't mean he's relevant.

But if the movies get exposure and also have other noticeable actors in the cast?
The question is: what should an actor do to be relevant to you?

 

[kvz5]

http://www.tracking-board.com/development-hell-will-still-find-you-20000-leagues-under-the-sea/

DEVELOPMENT HELL WILL STILL FIND YOU “20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA”

The classic Jules Verne novel 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA has been in development at Disney since 2007. Nearly 7 years later, there is no clear progression of directing or casting choices, and the production’s start date seems more of a fantasy than reality. With huge stars and directors coming and going from the project, the fate of this re-make is really up to a couple of key decisions by the executives at Disney, who are holding tightly to to the reins as the budget is estimated near $175,000,000 and they don’t want another “The Lone Ranger” or “John Carter” on their hands. So far, David Fincher is at least the second director to leave the project after disagreements with the studio. Brad Pitt was slated to star in the film, but departed shortly after Fincher. McG was also rumored to helm the film at one time, and the Wachowski Siblings and even Michael Bay are apparently in consideration. The Tracking Board is here to explain these twists and turns, and hopefully shed light onto how the picture could come together.

To start, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” was a novel published by french writer Jules Verne in 1870, and was popular in its own right before Walt ever decided to “Disney” it up. It centers around a US Government’s commissioned expedition to stop a giant sea monster from attacking ships in the Pacific Ocean. Disney‘s 1954 film version was a huge success, starring Kirk Douglas and James Mason, and it seems they are really insistent on making this one just as good, if not better. They just can’t agree with any particular director or writer as to the way it should be adapted for today’s market. This may be due to the fact that the original 1954 film is an exaggerated telling of the novel, and previously-attached director David Fincher may have wanted to return to the darker, more nuanced roots of the book. Both Fincher and Disney had public disputes about the film, each giving contradictory press releases almost at the same time.

Disney seems to be in no rush, however, and reports indicate they are taking a deliberate, slow march towards completing the project. On their directing shortlist is Ben Stiller, Ridley Scott, Wally Pfister, the Wachowski Siblings, and Michael Bay. Each one of these helmers could steer the ship in a completely different direction, but fans of the novel would probably have been happy with David Fincher‘s dark, nuanced style, or that of Ridley Scott or the Wachowski Siblings. If Disney does decide to go the Michael Bay route, they may have a great action movie, but one without the necessary substance.

The acting shortlist is comprised solely of A-listers, as Disney is not taking any chances. The likes of Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Russell Crowe, Jake Gyllenhaal, and even Denzel Washington are all in contention. Tom Hiddleston and Armie Hammer are even being considered for supporting roles.

The script is another story, as over 7 writers have come and gone over the course of development. Andrew Kevin Walker is slated as the current screenwriter, after the recently departed Scott Burnes.

The key here is deciding the tone of the movie. Yes, it’s a Disney movie, but does the studio want it to be light and airy like “Transformers,” or darker and more science-fiction like “The Matrix”? My pick was David Fincher with a more allegorical approach, like “Fight Club,” but it seems that option is already gone. Hopefully, whatever Disney decides will be a balanced approach and won’t market too heavily towards younger audiences. There is great potential to reach people of every age, from 16-55, and they’re going to have to negotiate one way or another if they ever want to re-surface that great ship they submerged over 50 years ago and bring it to life for the modern cinema.

 

[:eek:]

Fincher Talks The "20,000 Leagues" Collapse

By Garth Franklin Monday September 15th 2014 06:27PM
With Disney shifting potential budgetary outlays from its "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" film over to its fifth "Pirates of the Caribbean" film, it confirms something that has long been known - that the David Fincher-directed Jules Verne adaptation is officially dead.
Out doing press for "Gone Girl," Fincher has now spoken about how things on that project went awry. The filmmaker was attached to helm back in 2010, and within three years the project was over and he had moved on to "Gone Girl" instead. He tells Little White Lies (via Slashfilm) that a lot of it came down to not just casting but the corporate culture at Disney:

"You get over $200 million - all motion picture companies have corporate culture and corporate anxieties. Once we got past the list of people we could cast as the different characters in the film, once we got past one or two names which made them very comfortable, making a movie at that price, it became this bizarre endeavour to find which three names you could rub together to make platinum.
I wanted Aronnax to be French, God forbid! It got to be a little too confusing to me. I had this argument with a studio executive one time where he said to me, 'why is it that the actors always side with you and we're paying them?' And I said, 'I think it's because at some level, they know that my only real allegiance is to the movie.'
And because that's very clear and it never wavers, they may not agree with the image of the movie I have in my head, but they know that's what I'm after. They've seen me for 100 days take the long way around. I think that when you're trying to put together a handful of people to deliver all those facets of humanity and who work well together, it has to be in service of the narrative and not in service of the balance sheet.
It became very hard to appease the anxieties of Disney's corporate culture with the list of names that allowed everyone to sleep at night. I just wanted to make sure I had the skill-sets I could turn the movie over to. Not worrying about whether they're big in Japan."
​

The likes of Channing Tatum, Brad Pitt and Chris Hemsworth were all linked to the project at one time or another.