‘Pompeii’ Is The Newest Paul W. S. Anderson Disaster

Geoffrey Golden — Tue, 03 May 2011 03:37:06 +0000

It’s cool when things in movies blow up, but what about when nature blows up? That’s called a volcano, and it’s pretty awesome, dudes. So doing a movie about, like, the most famous volcano in the history of everything would be totally kickass. Enter Paul W. S. Anderson.

The director of When Alien Met Predator has set his sights on Pompeii, a film about a real-life Ancient Roman city which was the victim of an exploding Mt. Vesuvius. Expect the film to be accurate historically, just like he stayed true to the Resident Evil source material. Here’s a description of the plot:

Set in late summer 79 A.D., Pompeii revolves around the slave of a shipping tycoon who dreams of the day he can buy his freedom and marry his master’s daughter. What the slave doesn’t know is that she’s already been promised to a corrupt Roman senator, while he’s been sold to another owner. Just when things can’t get any worse, Mt. Vesuvius erupts with the power of 40 nuclear bombs. But the slave is trapped on a ship headed for Naples, separated from his love and best friend, a gladiator who is trapped in the city’s coliseum. As fire and ash destroy the only world he’s ever known, the slave is determined to get back and rescue them.

So it’s like Cloverfield in Ancient Rome, with a volcano instead of a Cloverfield monster, and a slave instead of a dumb 20-something. Alright, I guess that works. The big questions for an Anderson film are whether or not it will look cool – which potentially it could, because lava is awesome – and whether the story and dialogue will be so frustrating it distracts you from the visuals. I guess we’ll see how big a disaster this will turn out to be.

Constantin Films is producing, Summit Entertainment is distributing in the US. Lee Batchler and Janet Scott Batchler wrote the screenplay. (Hollywood Reporter)

‘Chinatown’ Writer Towne To Pen Mini-Series About Pompeii

Dave Horwitz — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:16:34 +0000

Academy Award winning screenwriter Robert Towne (Chinatown, The Last Detail) has signed on to write a mini-series based on the best selling Robert Harris novel “Pompeii.” The novel was originally going to be adapted by Roman Polanski and made into a feature starring Orlando Bloom and Scarlett Johansen, but the writers strike came along and messed that whole thing up. Now Ridley Scott has acquired it and wants it to go forward as a television mini-series, with the great Towne handling writing duties. Here’s the plot summary:

The period-based tale is centered on Marcus Attilius Primus, a young Roman engineer who works on the Aqua Augusta aqueduct that feeds the ancient cities of the Bay of Naples. While battling a vile real estate speculator who has a water embezzlement scheme, Primus learns that Vesuvius is about to erupt and races to warn his true love before it’s too late.

Sounds intriguing, and if you ask me, this version is a lot more appealing than the proposed Polanski version. Not just because of Towne, but because Orlando Bloom as the lead in an epic is just so, um… pre writers strike. (The Playlist)

Screen Junkies » pompeii

‘Pompeii’ Is The Newest Paul W. S. Anderson Disaster

‘Chinatown’ Writer Towne To Pen Mini-Series About Pompeii