20000 Leagues Under the Sea

David Fincher Talks THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, Deleted Scenes, His Favorite STAR WARS Movie, Test Screenings, and a Lot More

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: December 22nd, 2011 at 12:57 pm

Last weekend Sony held a big press junket in New York City for director David Fincher‘s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and I got to participate in a press conference with Fincher, Rooney Mara, and Daniel Craig.  Click here if you missed it.  As most of you know, Dragon Tattoo is the first in Stieg Larson’s Millennium trilogy and it centers on a disgraced journalist (Craig) who’s hired to investigate the mysterious 40-year-old disappearance of a young woman.  Mara plays Lisbeth Salander, a brilliant young hacker who teams up with Craig.

Shortly after the press conference ended, I got to sit down with Fincher for an exclusive interview.  We talked about deleted scenes (the first cut of Dragon Tattoo was 3 hours and seven minutes!), extended cuts, if he would change his previous movies like George Lucas has changed Star Wars, what filmmakers/collaborators he shows his films to first, if he does test screenings or just friends and family screenings, his favorite Star Wars movie, and I got updates on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Cleopatra and House of Cards.  Hit the jump to either read or listen to the interview.

David Fincher Provides Updates on 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, CLEOPATRA, and Netflix Series HOUSE OF CARDS

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: December 17th, 2011 at 1:38 pm

One of the most talented directors working today, David Fincher is somebody whose films are eagerly anticipated by a multitude of fans from the moment they’re announced. When word got out that a “Facebook movie” was in the works, 99% of people wrote it off as a cash grab. That all changed when Fincher signed on to The Social Network as director (a script by Aaron Sorkin didn’t hurt either). Fincher is currently doing the press rounds for his latest directorial effort: a large-scale R-rated adaptation of the wildly popular book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Steve is in New York for the film’s press junket and he recently got the chance to sit down with the director for an exclusive interview. While we’ll have the full interview up early next week, we wanted to share what Fincher had to say about a few of his potential upcoming projects. The director gave updates on his 3D adaptation of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the biopic epic Cleopatra starring Angelina Jolie, and the Kevin Spacey-starred Netflix series House of Cards, for which he’s directing the pilot. Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

SE7EN Scribe Andrew Kevin Walker Boards David Fincher’s 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: November 17th, 2011 at 6:43 pm

With the release of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo now merely a month away, all eyes on what project David Fincher will choose next. His Curious Case of Benjamin Button scribe Eric Roth is currently in talks to rewrite the epic Cleopatra, a project that Fincher is circling, but now another Fincher alumnus is boarding one of his next possible projects. Deadline reports that Se7en scribe Andrew Kevin Walker is set to work on the script for Fincher’s remake of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The previous draft was written by Scott Z. Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum), but it appears that Fincher’s looking to tweak the project a bit more.

The director has previously mentioned that his version of the Jules Verne adventure classic will be in 3D, and will probably be 70% CG. Disney is producing Leagues, but I’m wondering how dark Fincher plans to skew the material, especially given the addition of Walker. The director has still yet to choose his Dragon Tattoo follow-up, but if he takes a liking to Walker’s rewrite then Leagues is a serious contender. Personally, the thought of Fincher and Walker taking on a high seas adventure sounds absolutely fantastic.

A Conversation With Scott Z. Burns on CONTAGION, Adapting 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA and Future Directorial Projects

by Tommy Cook    Posted: September 2nd, 2011 at 12:02 pm

Scott Burns doesn’t rewrite. I found out this interesting tidbit a year or so ago when Burns, at a lecture for The University of Texas, revealed there was only one draft on The Informant! This was surprising not only because of how rich a script The Informant! is, but in that it seemingly disregards centuries of screenwriting scripture yore.

Burns’ latest the multiple interweaving narrative epidemic horror flick Contagion, I thought, must surely prove to be the exception to this rule. There’s just no way that Burns could have successfully dealt with all these “Short Cuts”-like stories (Cotillard’s detective, Fishburne’s morally compromised CDC official, Damon’s overprotective father, Law’s scumbag journalist a.k.a. blogger, Winslet’s do-good crusader) all in one draft. But Burns is not your typical screenwriter. When pressed on how many drafts of Contagion there were – he replied matter-of-factly “just really one”, and maintained that he still doesn’t go through the rewriting process. This just couldn’t be. And in the interview that followed, I attempted to delve into Burns’ anti-conventional approach to the art and the thematics at the heart of Contagion. He also spoke about his adaptation process and how it pertains to the upcoming Fincher directed 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Hit the jump for the whole conversation.

David Fincher Says 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA Will Be 70% CG, Talks Motion-Capture

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: August 12th, 2011 at 11:43 am

While director David Fincher is undoubtedly deep into post-production work on his latest effort The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, he recently talked a bit about one of the many other projects on his radar. Fincher has been developing an adaptation of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for a while, but we haven’t really heard much about the project as of late. However, the director recently revealed that his version would probably be 70% CG, providing an update on the film and reassuring fans that the film is still definitely something he plans on doing. Hit the jump to see what Fincher had to say.

Timur Bekmambetov to Direct ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER; Provides Updates on WANTED 2, 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, and MOBY DICK

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: August 9th, 2010 at 2:04 pm

Director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) is a busy man and now he’s about to become even busier.  Bekmambetov has announced that in addition to co-producing (with Tim Burton) an adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, he will also direct the movie.  Here’s what Bekmambetov said he was going for with the book (which you can see a trailer for by clicking here):

It is not a comedy at all – it is a very entertaining, epic history lesson for millions and millions of teenagers. If you remember Night Watch, it is maybe in the vein of that kind of movie. We are keeping the traditional look of Lincoln – the big hat and the beard. He has to be historically correct, but with a few special weapons. There is only one book, but there will be many opportunities to develop and explore this world if we get to do sequels. I hope we will start this winter. We are shooting in America.”

Hit the jump for updates on Bekmambetov’s other projects including Wanted 2, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Moby Dick, and more.

Fox Developing Their Own Adaptation of 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA for Director Timur Bekmambetov

by Ramses Flores    Posted: May 16th, 2010 at 6:20 pm

Yesterday we reported director David Fincher was in talks with Disney to direct an adaptation of Jules Verne’s 20.000 Leagues Under the Sea after the studio had passed on McG’s take on the classic adventure story back in November.  Now, Heat Vision is reporting that Fox is developing their own futuristic adaptation of the novel to be directed by Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) from a script by Travis Beacham (Clash of the Titans), which will be produced by filmmakers Ridley and Tony Scott.

Since 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is in public domain anybody can adapt it, it’s just a weird coincidence that two major studios are doing it at the same time.  It will be interesting to see if Disney backs down now since Fox’s take on the project seems like it’s almost ready to go while Disney still has to still finalize a deal with Fincher and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum), who will then start to write the film.  It also seems unlikely that this will be Fincher’s next film since he’s currently attached to direct The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo next.

Needless to say, everyone at Collider is itching to see Fincher’s take on the material.  But if Fox gets out of the gate first, it’s hard to see Disney moving forward with the same movie.  I’m sure we’re going to hear a lot about both films over the next few weeks.

Director David Fincher May Find Nemo in 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA With Scott Z. Burns Adapting the Story

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: May 15th, 2010 at 12:08 pm

Disney sunk the McG (Terminator: Salvation) adaptation of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea back in November, though not out of lack of interest in the property: Heat Vision reports that David Fincher is now in talks with the Mouse House to direct the at-sea adventure.  Fincher, known for darker R-rated fare like Fight Club and Se7en, approached Disney with the intent to make a “four-quadrant tentpole”;  20,000 Leagues certainly fits the bill, and could be a major box office player in the right hands (apparently not McG’s).  Among the hands Disney is recruiting are those of Scott Z. Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum), who is currently drafting an adaptation of the Jules Verne story.

Fincher followed up his Oscar nomination for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with the Facebook tale The Social Network—now in post-production—which will likely be succeeded by The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as Burns finishes the 20,000 Leagues script.  More after the jump:

McG’s CAPTAIN NEMO Gets Lost at Sea

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: November 16th, 2009 at 11:32 pm

It’s a good thing that McG has a lot of projects going at once because his planned adaptation/spin-of Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea has run aground.  Disney has put the picture on indefinite hold after tentatively scheduled to begin shooting this February.  However, the closest the film ever came to casting the title role was a rumor that Will Smith may sign on, but beyond that no other names were ever connected with the role of Nemo.  This is unfortunate because it would have really been great to stick it to India by casting a non-Indian as the famous anti-hero.  Bill Marsilli’s script would have followed Nemo’s origin and his construction of his warship, The Nautillus.  Hit the jump to find out why this isn’t a tragedy for anyone.

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