From Variety:
Universal Pictures has made a splashy preemptive buy of “Moby Dick”, a reimagining of the Herman Mellville whale tale that Timur Bekmambetov (“Wanted”) will direct.Studio paid high six figures to Adam Cooper and Bill Collage to pen the screenplay.
The writers revere Melville’s original text, but their graphic novel-style version will change the structure. Gone is the first-person narration by the young seaman Ishmael, who observes how Ahab’s obsession with killing the great white whale overwhelms his good judgment as captain.
This change will allow them to depict the whale’s decimation of other ships prior to its encounter with Ahab’s Pequod, and Ahab will be depicted more as a charismatic leader than a brooding obsessive.
“Our vision isn’t your grandfather’s ‘Moby Dick,’ ” Cooper said. “This is an opportunity to take a timeless classic and capitalize on the advances in visual effects to tell what at its core is an action-adventure revenge story.” ( My italics)
“Plus, we’re giving the whale a big machine gun.”
I have a similar idea for a reimagining of Wuthering Heights in which Heathcliffe is a hired killer and Cathy a vengeful demon trapped in human form. With lots of CGI. Nicholas Cage to star. Hell, Nicolas Cage to direct. He can write the screenplay for me too while he’s at it.
Posted by Rol | September 24, 2008, 1:23 am‘Ahab’s back and he’s pissed. He’s out for revenge… he’s out for Dick.’
You’re making this up surely.
Posted by Tone | September 24, 2008, 4:32 amTony: for some reason I’m reminded of the tag-line for that limp early-90s Bruce Willis actioner Striking Distance: “They shouldn’t have put him in the water if they didn’t expect him to make waves…”
And, no, I’m not making it up. How can a man write satire when twats like this really exist?
Posted by Tom Lennon | September 26, 2008, 5:33 pmRol: I’m sure Nic Cage will insist on further script revisions. For one thing, Heathcliffe will have to have a motorbike. And a dodgy mullet.
Posted by Tom Lennon | September 26, 2008, 5:44 pmNic would not have the dodgy mullet, as he won’t let people look at his ever decreasing hair. It’d be a ridiculous hair peace.
If we’re doing reimaginings can I have Catcher in the Rye, a tale about a pro baseball player and his addisction to whiskey, starring Adrian Brody,and Robin Williams as the grizzled coach made purely as oscar fodder
Posted by dave | September 28, 2008, 9:05 amDave – that’s genius, that is!
Posted by Tom Lennon | September 28, 2008, 4:32 pm