Hey folks, Harry here... Christophe Gans is one of my fave directors that doesn't get nearly the attention he deserves. His films are pretty spectacular. He started off in 1995 with CRYING FREEMAN featuring Mark Dacascos, who went on to star in Gans' next film, the brilliant BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF. After that he made SILENT HILL which was gorgeously atmospheric! His last film hasn't really been seen over here, it was BELL ET LA BETE aka BEAUTY AND THE BEAST - which is absolutely stunning. Watching Gans' BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and imagining what he could do with Jules Verne's 20,000 LEAGUES BENEATH THE SEA is pretty fantastic. Here's a piece of pre-production art that Gans has released:
Well, the Nautilus is certainly looking Nautilus-y! Giggle. Now I know, Bryan Singer is off directing his own adaptation of 20,000 LEAGUES BENEATH THE SEA - and you're wondering if we need two Captain Nemo movies - and then, lest you forget, Disney is producing an origin of Captain Nemo film with James Mangold directing, so really - we have 3. And before this is all done, I imagine Sony will do a MYSTERIOUS ISLAND film - if only to make all our heads spin.
The Gans film is making his 20,000 LEAGUES film with more Eastern sensibilities and apparently set in and around China. I'm dying to read the script to Bryan Singer's version - as we haven't heard much about that Fox produced version. We know it takes place in the aftermath of the Civil War in 1865 - and that Singer is apparently going more SciFi with his take. So at the very least, it sounds like they are doing very different tellings of the great Verne novel! The Mangold CAPTAIN NEMO is apparently his project after he finishes shooting his untitled WOLVERINE movie.
Gans could make a really stunning film set in the South Seas. I love old Chinese Shaw Brothers Pirate flicks - and plunking the Nautilus and Nemo into the mix could be magic. Visually, it'll be a knock out, as everything Gans does is stunning to look at!
This isn't the first time that there have been competitive Nemo films. Harryhausen and Disney had discussions back in the day over 20,000 LEAGUES BENEATH THE SEA and MYSTERIOUS ISLAND. And that resulted in two marvelous movies.
Keep it cool,
Harry
