“Have you read Jules Verne?” Why the director of Seven threw 20,000 leagues under the sea

In 2010, Disney announced that it had hired director David Fincher to write and direct an adaptation of Jules Verne’s novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which tells the story of the hunt for a giant narwhal by a crew, notably a scientist (Aronax). and his servant (Council) and harpoon (Ned Land). Ned and Aronax face many setbacks, especially when they encounter the mysterious Captain Nemo.
Spoiler:
(Actually, an Indian rebel prince opposing the British Empire).

2 years of work in the garbage

It’s a massive project for Fincher (of Seven and Fight Club fame) as well as Disney. To attract the audience, the film will need special effects, underwater images and a star cast. Besides, the studio and the director do not agree on the subject of the film.

“You can’t force people to take the risks you want. Disney was in a position where they said, ‘We need to know that there’s something we know how to use from start to finish, and you.’ You’re going to have to check those boxes for us,” and I said : “Have you read Jules Verne?”

Obviously, for Disney, the subject of the movie was not the subject of the book, but it is what interested Fincher in the first place:

“Life is too short”

It’s a story about an Indian prince who has serious problems with white imperialism, and that’s what we wanted to do, and they said, “Yes, yes, if you want. As long as we can do it less,” you come to the point where you say, “Look, I can’t lie and not I want you to know what you would fund at the time of the review, because you will have to pull your hair out for the next two years.’

After 3 years of discussions and negotiations, David Fincher gave up and left Gone Girl, and Disney, mired in the failures of John Carter (2012) and The Lone Ranger (2013), bet on less expensive projects. Into The Woods) or less risky (Maleficent).

In anticipation of the new adaptation of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, we still have the miniseries starring Michael Caine and Patrick Dempsey (1997) and Far From Us, the Disney classic directed by Richard Fleischer with Kirk Douglas and James Mason (1955) and Stuart Patton’s 1916 silent version.