Straight off the success of The Incredible Hulk, Louis Leterrier is wasting no time in lining up his next project. He'll direct a remake of Clash of the Titans, the Greek epic best remembered for Ray Harryhausen's special effects and Harry Hamlin's bouffant 'do.
Warners greenlit the film, which they are unsurprisingly planning to shoot against green screen in a 300-stylee, as soon as Leterrier signed on, based on a new script by Lawrence Kasdan. But the story of Perseus, and his quest to rescue the princess Andromeda through a series of adventures against terrifying beasties and gods, isn't going to have a smooth route to the screen.
That's because Relativity Media have got another Greek-god themed film in development, War of the Gods, to be directed by Tarsem Singh. That's due to start production by the end of the year, and with such similar themes it's possible that there will be a "chariot race" (groan) into production, with the loser dropping out (see: Baz Luhrman's Alexander the Great). But hey! There's room for more than one piece of Greek mythology in 2010, right? After all, War is about Theseus and Clash is about Perseus, so it's a completely dufferent story.
But in a spirit of conciliation, Empire has two suggestions to resolve any feud. First of all, why not cast the same actors as the gods in both and carry them across, in a Marvel-inspired tie-in? Secondly, why not give the Greeks a rest and have a look at Irish mythology, which has lots more mystical salmon and tougher heroes?
Most importantly, howeevr, let's hope that whatever version makes it manages to create effects as spectacular and charming as Harryhausen's - check out a sample here if you're not familiar with the original film.