master and commander Tagged Articles at Cinematical

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

It appears as if director Peter Weir has come down with a nasty case of "James Cameron disease," as he is in negotiations to once again return to sea for his next pic. If all goes well, Weir will produce and direct Shadow Divers for 20th Century Fox, based on a nonfiction book by Robert Kurson with a much longer title -- Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Discovered Hitler's Lost Sub. Weir's last pic came in 2003 when he helmed Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

Partly explained in the book's title, story revolves around two deep-sea wreck divers who risk their lives for six years in an attempt to identify a sunken U-boat that's discovered 60 miles off the coast of New Jersey. Why was Hitler traveling to New Jersey? Well, to take in a scrumptious meal at one of the state's many 24-hour diners, of course. Actually, the plot isn't so much about Hitler as it is about the sailors who lost their lives onboard the ship, as well as these two divers who leave their lives, marriages and friends behind on a hunt for the truth. Bill Broyles (Cast Away) will pen the adaptation, and no cast or production schedule was announced. Currently, Weir is also in development with a film called Pattern Recognition for Warner Bros., though it's not certain which pic the man will direct first.