After the success of Sherlock Holmes, it’s little surprise that Warner Bros. and producer Lionel Wigram are looking around for other classic properties they can give a modernised update to. Variety reports that the one they’ve settled on is The Three Musketeers, and they’ve tapped Peter Straughan (The Men Who Star At Goats) to handle the script.
Alexandre Dumas’ classic stories are a logical choice for the Holmes treatment, as unlike many classic novels, the story of the 17th Century musketeers is a fast-paced, rip-roaring adventure, with young D’Artangnan joining forces with three veteran heroes to battle the villainous Cardinal Richelieu. The books already have plenty of humour and derring-do, which the new adaptation will presumable play to the hilt.
However, what this means for Paul W.S. Anderson’s 3D take on the same story is less clear. The Resident Evil director announced last September that he was working on a film version of Dumas’ novels, which suggests we’re now going to have two lots of people, both racing to see who can be the first to get their Musketeers on the screen. Anderson seemed to have similar ideas about modernising the tale in Sherlock Holmes fashion, and plans to shoot this year. I’d expect only one of these movies to reach the big screen, although which one is yet to be seen.