Now this is unexpected news. THR has the scoop that David Fincher is in negotiations to direct Disney’s new big budget version of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Perhaps even cooler, Scott Z. Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum, The Informant!, Contagion) is writing the script. Word is Fincher was looking to try a different kind of project, namely a big blockbuster aimed at all audiences. Hopefully now that he has an established career he’ll have more control over this big studio project than he did when he directed Alien 3.
I just hope this won’t be an attempted Captain Nemo origin story, as the now canned movie from McG was going to be. That didn’t sound appealing at all. The mystery from learning about Nemo and the Nautilus from an outside perspective is a significant part of what makes the story great. THR says that Burns and Fincher’s movie would be “visually dazzling” and in the vein of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, whatever that means. I’ve always been wary of this material being revisited since I’m a huge fan of the novel and of Disney’s 1954 film, but I’m intrigued and optimistic about what Fincher and Burns might do. We’ll see, if this goes forward it’ll probably be 2012 release.
David Fincher has The Social Network, the story of Facebook’s origins, ready to bow in October, and he’s readying an English adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
