I have a feeling that in the next few years, historians are going to be ripping their hair out as Hollywood plunders the past for an endless parade of action adventures, loosely based on previous eras. Whether it’s Greek Mythology with Clash Of The Titans, the Victorians getting modern in Sherlock Holmes or the medieval middle-eastern kinetics of Price Of Persia, Tinsel Town is betting big on the past – as long as they ignore the truth and blast us with action.
THR reports that the latest to be lined up is a rather peculiar sounding movie that will turn Leonardo Da Vinci into an all action hero! Warner Bros is behind the movie, as they’ve picked up Adrian Askarieh’s pitch, Leonardo da Vinci and the Soldiers of Forever (you can smell the idea of this being a franchise already). The film will re-imagine Da Vinci as a member of a secret society (so a bit of Da Vinci code chucked in there) who falls headlong into a supernatural adventure that pits the man against Biblical demons in a story involving secret codes, lost civilizations, hidden fortresses and fallen angels.
As Da Vinci wasn’t just a painter, but was also inventor, engineer, architect, anatomist and mathematician, there’s certainly plenty to work with, although I can already see the historians getting lined up to say old Leo didn’t really fight biblical demons. I also doubt they’re going to mention the fact many believe Da Vinci was gay. However in his day he was a bit of a renaissance rock star, known as much for his physical beauty and personality as his talent.
The news comes only a week after Warner picked up a similar supernatural historical fantasy project, that one involing Marco Polo. Warner also has a sexed-up version of The Three Musketeers in the works, and two films based on the legends of King Arthur, so the studio certainly seems to think that following the success of Sherlock Holmes, this sort of updating of the past is going to be big business.