Whilst most movies seem to take an inordinate time to get to the big screen, it’s amazing how fast they can move if there’s bit of competition. Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil, Death Race) has been planning a new version of Three Musketeers for nearly a year, but the film was just trundling slowly towards cinemas until a couple of months ago, when Warner announced they also wanted to make a Musketeers movie (and more recently they announced it has a director – Doug Liman).
As a result it’s now a race to see who can get their Musketeers movie to cinemas first, with Anderson’s latest salvo being to start filling up the cast list ahead of a planned shoot this September. It’s been announced that he’s brought Christoph Waltz, Ray Stevenson, Logan Lerman, Matthew MacFadyen Luke Evans, Mads Mikkelson and wife Milla Jovovich onboard the movie.
THR reports that it’s Stevenson, Evans and MacFadyen who will play the legendary Porthos, Athos and Aramis, while Percy Jackson star Logan Lerman is in negotiations for D’Artagnan. The villains of the piece will be Oscar winner Waltz as Cardinal Richelieu and Mads Mikkelson as Rocherfort, while Jovovich will play the mysterious Milady.
And while he’s only been offered the role at the moment and isn’t yet in proper negotiations for the pat, the filmmakers want Orlando Bloom to play the Duke Of Buckingham.
The independently financed movie will be shot in 3D, with Anderson promising a contemporary feel, despite the period setting.
Now it’s a race with Doug Liman’s Musketeer movie, which is also eyeing an autums shooting date. Which will get to cinemas first?