Second '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' movie now in the pipeline

FRENCH filmmaker Christophe Gans is to direct a new movie based on the famous fantasy novel by Jules Verne and backed by China's Bliss Media, Deadline reports. This competing movie could overshadow the adaptation that Bryan Singer is currently working on for Fox.
Although already adapted on numerous occasions for the big and small screens, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is currently the subject of a cinematographic face-off between American production company 20th Century Fox and China's Bliss Media. Both have backed movie adaptations of the 1870 novel and both are due to start filming in the autumn.
The Bliss Media version will see French director Christophe Gans behind the camera. Two years after his adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, starring Léa Seydoux and Vincent Cassel, the Brotherhood of the Wolf director will be diving into this nautical adventure, switching the novel's original narrative to a Chinese setting. Filmed in several languages, the movie will also feature two Chinese actors among the lead roles.
This autumn will also see Bryan Singer start filming his 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea adaptation for Fox, with an as yet unknown cast. Disney has a similar project in the pipeline too, with a movie based on Captain Nemo, the hero of the Jules Verne novel. However, this live-action picture, developed by director James Mangold (Wolverine,Walk the Line), promises a new story rather than a straight-forward adaptation of the novel. Note that Disney already has its own big-screen version of the book, with a 1954 movie starring Kirk Douglas and James Mason, which bagged Oscars for "Best Visual Effects" and "Best Art Direction."
It's not unusual to see two similar projects take shape at the same time in the movie business. Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, for example, was released as a Disney adaptation directed by Jon Favreau in April 2016, while Warner's Jungle Book from Andy Serkis is set to follow in 2018.— AFP Relaxnews