With the “Charlie’s Angels” films in his rearview mirror and “Terminator Salvation” opening next month, the director known as McG has the world of Hollywood blockbusters at his feet. So what’s next? How about a 139-year-old book?
“I’m working on ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’ for Disney,” he told us when we caught up with him recently. “I’m prepping that.”
For those of you who don’t already know, “Leagues” is based on a book by sci-fi trailblazer Jules Verne. It tells the story of a crew who encounter a monstrous menace under the sea, getting thrown overboard while trying to catch the beast. They come to meet Captain Nemo, mastermind of a scheming plot on civilization. Now, all these decades after Verne originally imagined the adventure story, McG plans to re-interpret it for the CGI age.
“I’m just bringing it into today’s culture,” he explained. “I think it is so interesting that 7/10ths of Earth is water, and so few people know anything about what is going on beneath its surface.”
With an opportunity to create a plummeting picture depicting adventure on the sea and frightful encounters beneath it, he said the novel makes for a perfect toybox for a modern filmmaker like himself. “There’s a great story there,” reasoned McG.
“I love the anti-hero of Captain Nemo - and I like Jules Verne,” McG said of why he took the gig.
As true geeks remember, McG was once thisclose to directing a big-screen “Superman” movie a few years back. Now, he says that he’s envisioning “Leagues” as the closest he may ever come to making a comic book film. “If I can make a super hero film cloaked in classic literature,” he explained. “I think that’s an exciting opportunity.”
”Leagues” has been interpreted in film and TV so many times over the years. What do you think McG should do in his attempt to make it fresh again?
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