ROTTEN TOMATOES: "Clash" Remake Lands a Titan of a Screenwriter

"Clash" Remake Lands a Titan of a Screenwriter

by Scott Weinberg | April 18, 2007

Even if you know next to nothing about screenwriters, I bet you're a fan of Lawrence Kasdan ... even if you don't know it. The guy's biggest successes include "The Empire Strikes Back," "Return of the Jedi," and "Raiders of the Lost Ark," and now he's returning to adventure genre to pen the "Clash of the Titans" remake.

Adored by a lot more people than you might think, "Clash of the Titans" is an old-fashioned adventure epic that details the heroic travels of Perseus and features a whole bunch of Greek gods and goddesses. Plus it's got flying horses, snake-haired woman, and three-headed dogs. (Pegasus, Medusa, and Cerberus, respectively.) Here's hoping Mr. Kasdan removes Bubo the Owl when he writes his first draft.

No word yet on who'll be directing the new "Titans" for Warner Bros., but they should probably keep Mr. Kasdan on writing detail only. His last directorial effort was "Dreamcatcher," and I've yet to meet one person who likes that movie. To be fair, Mr. Kasdan has written and/or directed a lot more good movies than bad: "Body Heat," "The Big Chill," "Silverado," and "The Accidental Tourist" pretty much speak for themselves.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Related Items

Celeb:	Lawrence Kasdan
Movie:	Clash of the Titans
	The Big Chill
	Body Heat
	Dreamcatcher
	Raiders of the Lost Ark
	Return of the Jedi
	The Empire Strikes Back
	The Accidental Tourist
	Silverado

(1-20 of 23 posts) | Reply

Xhrix writes:
on Apr 18 2007 12:50 AM

This should be great!!!!!!

Can't wait to see modernized Medusa and Kraken. I hope they slip Harry Hamlin in for a brief cameo too :P

(Reply to this)

Neonknight writes:
on Apr 18 2007 02:21 AM

I don't see why they should remake this. If however, they do remake it, I hope they would stick closer to the original mythology than the first movie did.

(Reply to this)

vader_of_vjun writes:
on Apr 18 2007 02:28 AM

So...many...Laurence Olivier film...remakes.

First Sleuth, then Boys from Brazil...I'm eagerly awaiting the Marathon Man remake...

:|

(Reply to this)

cgcbooks writes:
on Apr 18 2007 02:46 AM

HO HUM!

(Reply to this)

digitalsoul68 writes:
on Apr 18 2007 05:54 AM

[b]Sounds like they should do God of War instead...[/b]
enough with the remakes!

(Reply to this)

GreenBastard writes:
on Apr 18 2007 06:18 AM

More remakes! as long as they are good.

(Reply to this)

bigbrother writes:
on Apr 18 2007 06:36 AM

In reply to this comment (#861888)
I wonder if they'll even do the Kraken again? Since that's really Norse myth. Though Perseus did slay a sea serpent sent by Poseidon if I remember correctly. Also in the original myth it was Bellerophon and not Perseus who tames Pegasus. Perseus had flying shoes like Hermes.

(Reply to this)

Prosper761 writes:
on Apr 18 2007 06:43 AM

Finally, a movie whose original is bad enough to warrant a remake. My sister and I have always referred to this movie as "Clash of the Trite Ones." Bubo the owl was a cheap and lazy attempt to create an "R2-D2" type character for this lamest of Ray Harryhausen movies. I'm so glad that a proven screenwriter is taking this on. Maybe we'll actually get a decent movie this time.

(Reply to this)

LEGENDc writes:
on Apr 18 2007 08:22 AM

[b]I Can Not Wait[/b]
Clash is my all time favoite, this is a blessing in disguise. Watching 300 and playing Gods of War 2 this is all I could think of, bring it all back giant scorpions, three headed dogs, Medusa, Calabus, Zeus, the three blind witches, that giant flying hawk, Pegasus, and one of the best heroes of all time PERSIUS. Finally a remake to anticipate, and can we bring Flash Gordon back now?

(Reply to this)

The_Corrector writes:
on Apr 18 2007 09:27 AM

In reply to this comment (#861892)
Enough with people saying enough with the remakes

(Reply to this)

unbreakable_samurai writes:
on Apr 18 2007 09:47 AM

That's a great start, hopefully they get a good director now.

(Reply to this)

Alexaion writes:
on Apr 18 2007 10:17 AM

Yeah, Perseus isn't the sort of hero that one might find in, say, the Iliad. He's a folk hero, nearer to Herakles or Theseus, and more of a folk tale than either of those two. He bears magical items and is sent on a quest, and was not raised as a nobleman - hallmarks of folk-tales. Most of the other heroes, in contrast, have nothing magical about them.

Anyway, this would be a neat movie to see remade, and in some ways I hope they keep the 'inaccuracies' in. Yeah, sure it was Bellerophontes who tamed Pegasus, and Pegasus himself sprung from the blood of Medousa (alongside the giant Khrusaor), but it's more fun to keep him. 'Accuracy' is a very fickle thing, and needn't be always considered. Recall that the ancient story tellers were not always consistent. Tell me, say, the names of the seven champions in the Seven Against Thebes; or who was elder, Zeus or Poseidon; or what Agamemnon's home city was. These things vary between authors, and ever character representations might vary within a single author between various works (the disparity of Menelaos' character in the Andromache as opposed to the Helen, for example.) So I have a difficult time calling such things inaccuracies, or wishing them removed, and I know and love my Greek myths more than most.

What they need now is a good monster movie director. Hmmm... PJ does monsters pretty well, and has that whimsical edge. Tim Burton could do it in interesting fashion. Most Greek myth isn't whimsical, but a little more heroic, yet Perseus by the nature I have spoken of would do better being less 'Greek' and more whimsical. Hmmm... I don't know my directors well enough. Maybe someone like James Cameron, but I think he's going to busy for years on Avatar.

However, with this all, I'd say they should still use old-fashioned models and stop-animation. For some reason the suspension of disbelief and the fantasitcal mood is better served by that, rather than our modern CG, whose clean and crisp look seems to conflict a bit.

(Reply to this)

crudebob writes:
on Apr 18 2007 11:24 AM

A worthy choice for a remake of a Ray Harryhausen movie since the studio forced a dumb down of the oiginal.

(Reply to this)

dracus writes:
on Apr 18 2007 11:31 AM

Talk about the perfect movie genre for George Lucas.

(Reply to this)

PunkJr writes:
on Apr 18 2007 11:32 AM

For fuck's sake... why do we have to keep remaking classics??

(Reply to this)

needles writes:
on Apr 18 2007 11:39 AM

In reply to this comment (#861900)
I agree. Harryhausen hated that mechanical owl the studio insisted on. He said it remided him of that moroinc Daggit in the Buck Rodgers television series.

(Reply to this)

hilohawaiian69 writes:
on Apr 18 2007 12:38 PM

In reply to this comment (#861903)
[b]i have to say...[/b]
i actually liked the original and i think it's rather entertaining for the cheese-fest that it is. I am also looking forward to the remake with all this new techonology in special effects it could look awesome.

P.S. I actually thougth Dreamcatcher was alright.

(Reply to this)

okuonuora writes:
on Apr 18 2007 01:24 PM

In reply to this comment (#861902)
Um, maybe cuz the first one was MADE OF CLAY?!? Now they can use crappy computer graphics instead of crappy claymation.

(Reply to this)

FireflyFan4evr writes:
on Apr 18 2007 09:46 PM

Well being that this could be considered more of another version of the myth, it does not necessarily have to be considered a remake. I liked the original alright, but a remake wouldn't hurt either.

(Reply to this)

cabezone writes:
on Apr 18 2007 09:57 PM

In reply to this comment (#861904)
If Dreamcatcher is the movie with ass weasels, I thought it was decent.

(Reply to this)

RottenTomatoes.com