It seems that no figure – be they literary or real in origin – is safe from Warner Bros.' post-Sherlock Holmes hunger for adventures that they can tweak. The latest to feel the studio’s breath on his collar? 13th century explorer Marco Polo.
I Am Legend’s Francis Lawrence has been hired to develop and direct a film based on a script pitch by writers Adam Cooper and Bill Collage (who already have a version of Moby Dick swimming away at Universal and a new take on Moses being carved into stone tablets for Fox).
The plan is to take the real-life adventures of Polo, a Venetian merchant who travelled with his father and uncle across Asia in the time of Kublai Khan, and fashion them into a fantasy adventure. "We see this as something that takes place in the Orient of our imagination amid the cultural clash of the East and the West," Cooper tells Variety.
It’s Lord Of The Rings meets the thrilling world of trade! It's a story from Sandman brought to life! Given Lawrence's involvement can we expect Will Smith as Polo? Doubt it...