McG wants Will Smith to go 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

By Matt Holmes / June 25, 2011

McG is a huge fan of Will Smith (who isn't?) and desperately wants to cast him for his newly announced adaptation if the Jules Verne classic, 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, set up at Disney. The TERMINATOR SALVATION director told Latino Review in person...

"Man I€™m trying to get Will Smith to do it, been trying to get a hold of him. I've been wanting to work with him for a long time already. That guy's great€.

Does he want him as Ned Land (played famously by Kirk Douglas) or Captain Nemo (James Mason in the original, though in literature he is of Indian origin). McG hints that he would want Smith to play the part with the kind of dark edge he had in I AM LEGEND and SEVEN POUNDS...

€œThe character Nemo in this film is more about obsession, he is obsessed and people tend to forget that when you become so obsessed you end up being the villain.€

Love Will Smith but a Disney vehicle like this one just doesn't seem right for him. A little too much WILD WILD WEST for me. Smith's recent choice of movies (OLDBOY remake, a sequel to I AM LEGEND and HANCOCK, now 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA) are extremely suspect. He is usually way smarter than this. If he's desperate to do another blockbuster, then pitch for the CAPTAIN AMERICA role. That would suit him more.