The Nautilus... REcommissioned?

From ComingSoon.net:

"The plans for Walt Disney Pictures to produce a new adaptation of Jules Verne's 1869 underwater adventure novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea seem to be back on track, thanks to director [Oscar-nominated] David Fincher, who approached the studio's new production head Sean Bailey with interest in making the movie his first major studio tentpole project for all audiences, possibly since Alien 3 in 1992. Fincher is currently in negotiations with the studio as is screenwriter Scott J. Burns (The Informant!), who has been slated to write the new take on Verne's classic story.

Previously, Disney adapted Vernes' novel into the 1954 film starring Kirk Douglas that is considered by many to be one of the studio's classic live action films. Last year, director McG had started to develop a new version of the story that focused on an origin story for Captain Nemo, and that version was fast-tracked with a $150 million budget, but was then axed soon after Richard Ross took over as Disney Chairman last year. Ross then went on record that the idea of doing a new version of 20,000 Leagues wasn't dead, but that they would proceed in a different direction.

Bailey had been developing the project covertly, but with Fincher and Burns in talks for deals, it seems likely the project will begin forward movement again. It's thought that the time Burns would need to write a new script would allow Fincher to direct another movie after finishing his upcoming The Social Network for Sony."

Yet at the same time, Fincher's got 10 other projects that also need his attention:

Ness,a bio-pic of law enforcement agent Eliot Ness with Matt Damon as a possible Ness.

The Killer about a top assassin, with his conscience getting the better of him, and a cop on his tail

The Goon, a CG-animated crime caper with Clancy Brown as the voice of The Goon and Paul Giamatti as the voice of Franky

Heavy Metal, Fincher is set to direct one of the film’s eight or nine segments, which will also feature other directors such as Zack Snyder, Gore Verbinski and Guillermo del Toro, as well as James Cameron. The film is envisioned as being an animated, adult-themed R-rated film

Chef, a comedy with Keanu Reeves (really?)

The Reincarnation of Peter Proud about a professor who is beginning to have flashbacks of a previous life

Pawn Sacrifice, another biopic on the life of chess champion Bobby Fischer

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, a remake of a Swedish film involving complicated international financial fraud and the buried evil past of a wealthy Swedish industrial family

WILD HOGS 2 rides off into the sunset

From ComingSoon.net:

"Variety reports that Wild Hogs 2: Bachelor Ride is the third high-profile that Disney has scrapped since Rich Ross took over at the studio, joining Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Wedding Banned on the halted list.

The trade says the sequel was targeting a production start next summer, with Walt Becker back as director, and John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy reprising their roles.

Original screenwriter Brad Copeland had written the sequel script, and new writers were in the process of being hired. That ended this week, when word came down that the picture wasn't going to get made."

Thank you Old Dogs, for killing a potential sequel. At least, Wedding Banned still has a potential pulse.

Here's the deal on Wedding Banned

"After halting Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea last month, new Walt Disney chief Rich Ross has also dropped the romantic comedy Wedding Banned from its slate. The film was to have starred Robin Williams, Anna Faris and Diane Keaton.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio has put the project into turnaround, and the production company, Mandevile Films, is free to shop it around town.

The movie centers on a long-divorced couple (Williams and Keaton) who kidnap their daughter (Faris) on her wedding day to prevent her from making the same mistakes they did. The parents rekindle their relationship as they elude cops and the angry groom.

The movie was in development for a shoot next year."

The Nautilus.... decommissioned?

From ComingSoon.net:

"Walt Disney Pictures has halted Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Production was tentatively scheduled to begin in February, but director McG is no longer on board.

Disney's next big water-based shoot will likely be Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, with filming expected to start in May under the direction of Rob Marshall. Johnny Depp is returning as Captain Jack Sparrow.

McG will concentrate on other projects that include Dead Spy Running, a Warner Bros. drama that Stephen Gaghan is writing."

Aw, and this could've been such a good movie!

Dwayne Johnson goes 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

From ComingSoon.net:
"While director McG has told anyone who would listen that he'd love to have Will Smith star in his reworking of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo for Disney Studios, according to the latest 'issue' of Production Weekly, Dwayne Johnson has been cast in the undersea epic, which is listed as in active development to start shooting in Australia later this year. Presumably, Johnson, whose last two movies have been for Disney, will play Captain Nemo himself."

SYNOPSIS:
"A fugitive whaler teams up with a naturalist, a mysterious woman and a captain of a futuristic submarine, to search for a lost underwater civilization that holds libraries of vast knowledge and a weapon with the power to destroy mankind."

Sounds like combining 20,000 Leagues and Atlantis: The Lost Empire (despite what people said, I liked it - especially hearing Marty McFly in voice-over form).

UPDATE:

Oops! No, he's not!

"Production Weekly has posted a retraction to the listing in their production guide which listed Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as the star of McG's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo. McG told SCI Fi Wire that he hasn't even spoken to Johnson. Said McG, 'I don't know where that came from. I've never spoken to Dwayne Johnson. You can be the first to report that I have no idea where that came from. I wish him every success, but I never spoke to Dwayne about this.' He added that the movie is still being offered to Will Smith."

News on 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA: CAPTAIN NEMO

Of course, everybody remembers the 1954 Disney film - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea based on Jules Verne's classic novel. I never saw the movie, never read the book (I've heard of passages from Back to the Future Part III). Speaking of Back to the Future Part III, at the beginning of the movie, 1955 Doc Brown is shocked to see 1985 Marty McFly and slips on the hoverboard from 2015 and catches himself on the pipe organ, its haunting noise making Marty seem like a ghost. That pipe organ? - it's from the 1954 20,000 Leagues. It was borrowed from the "Haunted Mansion" and soon returned -- Anyway, back to the news:
In steps Terminator Salvation director McG who asked Disney for permission to direct a remake of the film - (http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=51745)
This seems cool with me, even his first casting choice sounds neat to me (Will Smith) (http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=51930).
IESB.net (http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_alphacontent&section=8&cat=21&task=view&id=6152&Itemid=238) received major story points for a script written for the film and I gotta admit, some of them are pretty bizarre. Let's hope that McG will fix the script and deliver a blockbuster like I'm sure Terminator Salvation will be.