That 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA remake that McG and David Fincher were both circling at one point is now goin’ to the guy who directed the last WOLVERINE movie: James Mangold.
The Oscar-nominated COP LAND/WALK THE LINE director will be helming the origin story, CAPTAIN NEMO, which will depict the creation of the legendary Nautilus craft. This is going head-to-head with the straight 20,000 LEAGUES adaptation that Bryan Singer’s doing over at Fox, much the same way WB has a JUNGLE BOOK flick coming right on the heels of Favs’ Disney release.
Mangold’s been working int he action realm consistently since WALK THE LINE, and handled the four-quadrant THE WOLVERINE pretty well (though we’ll always wonder what Aronofsky’s take would’ve been like), but this would likely be his biggest project to date. They’ve got a script by SNAKES ON A PLANE/THE EYE writer (and WOMEN IN TROUBLE/ELECTRA LUXX director) Sebastian Gutierrez, and hope to get going soon after Singer gets his version in front of cameras this fall.
The iconography of LEAGUES is definitely ripe for plundering, and Disney’s clearly going the franchise route by starting off with Nemo’s early days and possibly even going further with his solo adventures before meeting up with Aronnax and Ned Land in Verne’s story. It’ll be cool to see Mangold’s 2016 take on the Nautilus, and who they cast to follow in James Mason’s footsteps.
Anyone excited for James Mangold’s depiction of the early days of CAPTAIN NEMO?
