MasterAndCommander Tagged Articles at Cinematical
More 'Master and Commander'? Aye-Aye, Captain!
Filed under: Action », Drama », RumorMonger », 20th Century Fox », DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand », War »
I know from comments on past posts that I'm not the only moviegoer desperate for more of Captain Jack Aubrey. I'll go on record and say that as much as I enjoyed Captain Jack Sparrow, I'd much sooner take another journey with Aubrey and Stephen Maturin over a fourth Pirates.There's a glimmer of hope now, as Russell Crowe talked to USA Today and said that very early talks were underway for a new Master and Commander installment. A script based on Patrick O'Brian's The Reverse of the Medal has been written, and like Far Side of the World, it's a combination of several different stories. Negotiations are currently underway to obtain the rights, but USA Today doesn't specify if they've lapsed, or if Fox lacks the neccessary books of the 20 volume series.
Crowe said that "there's still a long way to go," and that it's one of several projects he's considering, so we can't hold our breath. Medal would be quite the follow-up, since it would be an older Aubrey than we met before, and one who is embroiled in fraud charges and dealing with illegitimate offspring. It would also introduce that other side of Maturin, one that's distinctly different from his naturalist ways. I hope it happens, though. It would be a good time on land and sea for all!
My Kingdom for a History-Literary Franchise ...
Filed under: Action », Fandom », Remakes and Sequels », Fan Rant »
It's a sign of the times that I'm working and writing in that I got to the end, and immediately wished they had made a sequel. Not just because of all the open-shirtedness (yes, that's a word) but because it could have explored a vanishing world, and really dug into the character of Hawkeye. There are other books, after all, and Mohicans is a loose enough adaptation that they could have cherry-picked and expanded another Leatherstocking tale or two. They still could. Some part of me would like to see The Prairie with an old, grim Nathaniel in his final days ... but maybe it's just best everyone imagine him happily civilized with Cora.
But we never get history-based sequels. I'm still crushed that they've never brought back Captain Jack Aubrey. The Aubrey-Maturin series is fantastic, and the Peter Weir film is one of my all-time favorites. I'd happily give up a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean installment for another Master and Commander ... and only partially because Aubrey doesn't spawn a million imitators in eyeliner.
Another Darwin Biopic Set for 2009
Hollywood loves dueling biopics -- Columbus, Capote, Amy Fisher; if there's more than one source to mine from, there's more than one movie to be made. The latest figure to get head-to-head films is Charles Darwin. Though I haven't heard anything more on Chase Palmer's take, titled Evolution's Captain, since I wrote about it last November, it is supposed to be released some time in 2009. If that remains true, it will have some company, because Oscar-winning producer Jeremy Thomas is also planning to deliver a Darwin film the same year (the bicentennial of the naturalist's birth).
Thomas' version will be based on "Annie's Box" (aka "Darwin, His Daughter and Human Evolution"), a bio written by Darwin's descendant Randal Keynes. While Palmer's film should deal more with Darwin's scientific explorations, this one will be centered more on the naturalist's home life, particularly with the death of his daughter Annie, which he blamed on inbreeding (Darwin married his first cousin). The adaptation is being written by John Collee, who I had actually thought would be appropriate for Palmer's film, and will be directed by Jon Amiel. A good guess is that Keynes' son Skandar, who acts in the Narnia films, will get a part as one of Darwin's kids (he had 10).
Other dueling biopics headed your way:
Miles Davis
Marvin Gaye
Chet Baker
Napoleon
Tarzan Swings Into Production -- With Del Toro?
Filed under: Action », Classics », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Deals », Warner Brothers », Fandom », Family Films », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels »
Can you imagine any post-WWII literature being remade and re-imagined as much as the classics of the 19th and early 20th Centuries? Maybe it's just too early. Maybe when I'm an old man, there will be countless adaptations of the Harry Potter books in the way there are presently many versions of Stoker's Dracula, Dickens' A Christmas Carol and Burroughs' Tarzan. The constant reworking of classics, like Tarzan, likely has something to do with earlier films being too safe or censored. This accounts for remakes being sold as being truer to their source or as being an edgier revisit to something that exists as too innocent and simple in the consciousness of pop culture. The stories of Tarzan have been depicted as everything from childish adventures to mature drama, but Warner Bros. believes there is still another way to tell the tale of the man brought up in the wild.
The studio is looking at John Collee to write a script -- hopefully with Master and Commander in mind more than Happy Feet -- and Guillermo Del Toro to direct. The Pan's Labyrinth filmmaker would possibly be interested in taking on the project following the making of Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. Del Toro doing Tarzan? We know you have an opinion on this one ...
Palmer Evolves With Darwin
Filed under: Drama », Deals », Focus Features »
Ever since I went to the Museum of Natural History's Darwin exhibit earlier this year, I've been hoping for a film about the pioneer of evolution theory. My main interest is actually in Darwin's marriage to his cousin, his ten children with her, and his subsequent ideas about the ill effects of in-breeding, but I'll be happy with the story of the voyages of the HMS Beagle, the ship that took Darwin on his scientific travels. And that is the story I'll be getting thanks to a planned adaptation of Peter Nichols' novel Evolution's Captain: The Dark Fate of the Man Who Sailed Charles Darwin Around the World.Chase Palmer, who is on the rise as a hot new helmer of historical fictions, has been tapped to write the screenplay and to direct the film, which will be titled simply Evolution's Captain (this makes sense since different versions of the book have different subtitles). Though the book concentrates on the life of the Beagle's commander, Robert FitzRoy, the film will likely focus more on the captain's relationship with Charles Darwin. Fitzroy, who was nicknamed "Hot Coffee" due to his violent temper, famously disagreed with Darwin on the topic of man's origins, and their arguments should make for a nice parallel to the current creation vs. evolution debates. In addition to being topical, though, it should also be intriguing in a way similar to the better parts of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, which feature Paul Bettany's character conducting some pre-Darwin studies of South American flora and fauna.
Production on this film will probably begin once Palmer's debut, Number 13, is finished. Since that film isn't scheduled to begin until February, though, it will probably be some time before we get to see any actors donning Darwin's distinguishably long facial hair.
More on Palmer's projects:
When You Think of Hitch, Think Fogler
Kingsley Counts to Number Thirteen
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
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Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
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