Henry Cavill, Sam Worthington to don Competing Togas
War of the Gods has cast Henry Cavill (The Tudors) to headline the cast. According to Variety, he will portray Theseus. Tarsem Singh (The Cell) is directing the film from a script by Charley and Vlas Parlapanides for Relativity Media.
Meantime, the competing Warner Bros. remake of Clash of the Titans, with a script from Lawrence Kasdan, is said to be negotiating with Terminator Salvation-star Sam Worthington for the part of Perseus. The remake of the 1981 Ray Harryhausen film is to be directed by Louis Leterrier (Incredible Hulk).
Both movies are expected to begin production within the next four months and both announced intentions to follow the 300 model with principal photography relying heavily on the green screen process to allow sets to be digitally created. As a result, both movies are said to be budgeted below $100 million.
All that Greek mythology you read in school will come in handy as you sit through not one, but two feature films using the Olympian Gods and Goddesses. On June 26, both films were annoucned in the trades with one porject suddenyl split asunder. Warner Bros. was initially interested in something god-like and at one point was tempted by Relativity’s War of the Gods. Instead, Warners proved fickle and instead partnered with Legendary Pictures for the Clash remake. The script from Lawrence Kasdan has been done for a while. They finally gave the project a green light when Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier signed on.
While the subject matter of the pictures is different, each share a preoccupation with Greek mythology, and that has created a full-fledged chariot race to be first. War is the likely film to be go before the cameras first.
War is described by Variety as “a mythological tale set in war-torn ancient Greece, as the young warrior prince Theseus leads his men in a battle against evil that will see the gods fighting with soldiers against demons and titans.” The film will be produced by the 300 team of Gianni Nunnari of Hollywood Gang Prods. and Mark Canton of Canton Prods. along with Relativity’s Ryan Kavanaugh.
“Gianni and I both love epic mythology, and we have worked hard to find another project that will challenge the senses and once again take audiences into a fresh new cinematic world,” Canton told the trade.
Nunnari added, “Gods, titans, warriors and a fantastic script. An incredibly visionary filmmaker like Tarsem and a partner like Relativity who fought and won already in a battle in getting the package that everybody wanted.”
Clash of the Titans will feature Perseus, the son of Zeus, (previously played by Harry Hamlin) who must “overcome a series of obstacles to save his beloved Princess Andromeda, including cutting off the serpent-tressed head of Medusa, who can turn a man to stone with a single glance.”
May the best toga production win.
I never would have guessed…ANOTHER remake!