While David Fincher‘s 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA remake seems to be all but dead at Disney, Sony is jumping at the chance to capitalize on the success of MALEFICENT by making their own. Titled CAPTAIN NEMO, it comes from Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, showrunners and writers on SMALLVILLE. The Hollywood Reporter also lists Joe Roth as producer.
Roth recently produced MALEFICENT as well as SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN and Tim Burton‘s ALICE IN WONDERLAND. He is currently at work on the ALICE IN WONDERLAND sequel at Disney. It is unknown what the plot of CAPTAIN NEMO will be but it is simply listed as a “new take” on the character.
For those unfamiliar with the source material:
It tells the story of Captain Nemo and his submarine Nautilus, as seen from the perspective of Professor Pierre Aronnax after he, his servant Conseil, and Canadian harpoonist Ned Land wash up on their ship. On the Nautilus, the three embark on a journey which has them going all around the world.
While a director would make a huge difference in interpreting this project as a winner or loser, Gough and Millar do not exactly inspire confidence. Aside from SMALLVILLE, the writers are best known for the big screen screenplays for I AM NUMBER FOUR, THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR, and the SHANGHAI NOON films. Yeah, they scripted SPIDER-MAN 2 for Sam Raimi, but they also wrote HERBIE: FULLY LOADED.
As a big fan of the original Jules Verne novel and the classic Disney film starring Kirk Douglas, I am approaching this take very cautiously.