It sounds like Clash of the Titans 2 director Jonathan Liebesman isn’t ready to walk away from the realm of swords and sandals once he puts the finishing touches on his mystical sequel. He and screenwriter Chris Boal -- brother of The Hurt Locker scribe Mark Boal -- just pitched Warner Bros. on an epic telling of the rise of Roman leader Julius Caesar which could set up a potential sequel and, if all goes well, a multi-picture franchise.
Deadline reports that Liebesman and Boal’s pitch eschews the traditional biopic and takes an approach to Caesar’s history that would mirror Franklin J. Schaffner’s Oscar-winning Patton, which didn’t span a lifetime but instead focused on specific battle victories in the iconic general’s long military career. Boal’s idea would be to start with Caesar in Spain, where he assembled the 10th Legion that eventually marched on Rome.
The film is being described as moviemaking on a massive scale, requiring a major star (or someone on the cusp who's ready to explode into Hollywood’s stratosphere) for the lead role. If Boal’s plan holds, this initial film would end with Caesar’s coronation, saving the general’s exploits in Egypt and eventual assassination for future films.
The project sounds similar, in size and scope, to Darren Aronofsky’s planned re-telling of Noah’s Biblical story of the great flood and the existence-preserving ark. One has to wonder if these directors are promising to deliver these epics on a budget, or if traditionally conservative Hollywood studios are loosening the purse strings in an effort to recapture its Golden Age. The news that Warners is interested in pursuing a project of this stature with Liebesman also speaks highly of his work on the Titans sequel, though we won’t get to see that effort until March 30, 2012.
