Moses and Moby Dick coming to a greenscreen near you
Posted on October 12th, 2009

Hollywood, with its unending stream of brilliant, original ideas, has taken aim at the Bible and decided to tap into that literary reservoir of inspiration.

According to Cinematical, 20th Century Fox is currently producing a film version of the story of Moses to be made in the same vein as “300″ and “Sin City.”

Apparently, the tale’s being beefed up in order to warrant such an odd rendering and Midrashic (I had to Google it, too) sources providing additional elements not necessarily covered in the Bible will serve this purpose (reminds me of Kevin Smith’s idea for his version of “The Passion of the Christ”).

Either way, retelling things in this fashion kind of squelches any discussion about which actors will be used, seeing as characters in these circumstances seem to become set pieces to marginally justify the action and the visuals.

There are also plans for a “Moby Dick” adaptation along the same lines. Gerard Butler as Ahab? An underwater battle between the whale and a giant squid? One can only hope.


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Greek Gods Descend on Upcoming Epic Hollywood Movies
Posted on November 6th, 2008

medusa beheaded clash if the titans“The Incredible Hulk” director Louis Leterrier’s remake of “Clash of the Titans” will be filmed on backlots with lots of greenscreen digital backgrounds like Zack Snyder’s “300,” and will star Sam Worthington in the Harry Hamlin-originated role of Perseus. The only cause I see for celebration is that the movie is written by Lawrence Kasdan (”The Empire Strikes Back,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Body Heat”).

The original “Titans” was the last movie featuring the stop-motion genius of Ray Harryhausen and featured a hideous Medusa, a mechanical owl named Bubo, and the giant Kraken (found recently on my Top 10 Giant Monster Attacks! list). Zeus’ son Perseus is on a quest to save Princess Andromeda and he must jump through several hoops, including capturing Pegasus and slaying the snake-haired One.

kraken clash of the titansPart of what made it so creepy and unreal was the stop-motion creatures, so I don’t know if straight-up CGI will be that interesting. Maybe there is a digital way to approximate the same jittery, otherworldly feel that Harryhausen’s creations had. That would be cool. Leterrier’s “Hulk” was just fine, a workmanlike combo of the TV show and comic, so I’m not expecting too much here, but Kasdan’s presence is reassuring.

Other Greek epics in production? Tarsem Singh’s “War of the Gods,” in which Theseus, a warrior from Greek mythology, leads a fight against the imprisoned titans. One thing that makes this story unique is that unlike some mythological tales, the Gods fight alongside mortals. with Tarsem (“The Fall”) on board, this could be visually stunning. Let’s hope it’s not also incoherent, like his earlier “The Cell.”

300 prequel sequel frank millerBrett Ratner’s “God of War” is based on a popular videogame and takes place in ancient Greece where the warrior Kratos, who tackles mythological beasts such as Medusa, Cyclops and the Hydra, is on a quest to find Pandora’s Box and destroy Ares, the God of war. with the recent announcement of the above two pictures, though, Ratner is going to have an uphill climb. This seems like the one that will benefit the most from being released first, if only because the others will probably be more visually stunning and cutting edge.

And then there’s the rumored “300″ sequel. (Which is really weird, considering that the 300 Spartans are all dead.) Well, it’s kind of a prequel. But not really. It will take place somewhere between the Battle of Thermoplyae, which was fought during “300″ and the Battle of Platea, which is the battle that was started at the end of the film. But before any of this can be filmed, Frank Miller (who’s still finishing up directing duties on “The Spirit”) has to complete another graphic novel. Can you say overkill?


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