Fresh off of the adaptation of Wanted, director Timur Bekmambetov has decided to tackle a whale of a project (hardy har har) in Moby Dick. We get the following scoop from our friends at slashfilm:
In what the trades are dryly referring to as a “reimagining” and “splashy,” Universal Pictures has hired Timur Bekmambetov to direct a new version of the literary classic, Moby Dick, that will “apply the visual flourish he displayed on the [studio’s] summer hit Wanted.”
It’s pointless to feign outrage about this announcement (books, meh), but note that screenwriters, Adam Cooper and Bill Collage, have taken liberty with Herman Melville’s opus, exercising the first-person narration of Ishmael so that “the whale can fuck up way more shit, dudes.” They previously penned Accepted and the Olsen Twins’ New York Minute. Also, Captain Ahab “will be depicted more as a charismatic leader than a brooding obsessive.”
I have no problem with a Moby Dick adaptation, but since the book is a classic – I’d assume they would try to recreate this magic on the screen. But this doesn’ t appear to be the case, and I’m wondering why they’re calling it Moby Dick at all. If you’re going to change the story to the point where only the names are the same – then you should probably call it something else.
Orca the killer whale is a film about a tyrannical sea mammal (and is enjoyable enough from what I remember). I have no problem watching giant beasts wreak havoc, in fact, I love it. I just don’t understand why the writers of an Olsen Twin’s film will be allowed to hull out a classic just to use its name. That doesn’t seem very classy San Diego. International Friends – what are your thoughts?
