If Cleopatra seemed a little outside of Fincher's usual wheelhouse, then god knows that to say about 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. And yet, there was a time recently where the director was adamant that an adaptation of Jules Verne's classic science fiction thriller was the next film on his slate. It's Disney who would've produced this remake of their fifties production, with Brad Pitt in line to star as sailor Ned Land and filming due to take place in Australia to take advantage of a generous tax rebate which would've made up for the millions due to be spent on the 3D cameras Fincher intended to shoot with, and the fact that he estimated the film would need to be 70% CGI. Those sort of constraints have sunk even the most noble of vessels, so perhaps it isn't surprising that Disney chose not to move forward with such a project, and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea sunk without a trace. The script was penned by Contagion and Side Effects screenwriter Scott Z Burns, hinting at a more interesting and dark sort of blockbuster: set after the American Civil War, Fincher's version would focus on the morally complex Captain Nemo, and how his relationships with the rest of the crew explore the similar intersections of technology, commerce and humanity in a post-Industrial Revolution world.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
