When last we heard about David Fincher‘s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Disney decided to put the film on hold for financial reasons. John Carter was a huge blow to the live-action department causing Disney to draft some new plans for some of their other riskier live-action films. Not even the casting of Brad Pitt or an “older A-list star” could convince them to move forward with the project.
There was a three-month production pause for the film when Disney decided to pull back on the project. During that time, Andrew Kevin Walker polished the Steven Zallian draft. Now that we are past the three-month pause, there is still no word on when Disney can give Fincher the go ahead to produce the film.
Fincher is just itching to get this project off the ground, and the Australian government might be the nation to help them out. According to Deadline, Australian Arts Minister Simon Crean has offered Disney a $12.2 million payment in hopes that the film will be shot there on location. THR says that the tax rebate offer is somewhere near the $19 million range though. But the goal is the same.
If the deal is finalized, the film will shoot without Brad Pitt starring. However, Pitt isn’t ruled out entirely. Fincher and Pitt have an excellent working relationship, and the director has been courting the actor to star in the role for quite some time. It’s quite possible that Pitt could come into the fold if his schedule allows it.
Should Disney agree to the deal, some of the locations in Australia include Village Roadshow Studios in Queensland and Fox Studios in Sydney.
[Source: Deadline | THR]
UPDATE: The Playlist reports that Fincher did his location scouting six months ago, and confirm that Brad Pitt will not star in the film.
Brad Pitt is not set to star in the film, but that’s not because his deal isn’t done. Sources tell us Pitt officially passed on the David Fincher project after initially agreeing to take the lead about a month ago (the always finicky Pitt strikes again).
The site also states that Fincher wants Channing Tatum for the lead role.
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