There have been literally dozens of films based on Alexandre Dumas, peré’s novel, The Three Musketeers; stemming back to the days of silent film, right through the better known 1993 blockbuster (which starred Two and a Half Men’s Charlie Sheen, 24’s Kiefer Sutherland, 2012’s Oliver Platt, and Batman & Robin’s Chris O’Donnell), and up to sequels like 1998‘s The Man in The Iron Mask (which itself has been made many times); but strangely enough, there haven’t been any big budgets versions that directly clashed with each other, until now.
A few days ago if was officially announced that Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity) would be directing a new version for Warner Bros.; which is supposed to be a Sherlock Holmes style take on the story; that sees a young D’Artagnan leave home and attempt to join the French King’s royal guard, becoming a member of the charismatic musketeers; but Paul W.S. Anderson (AVP: Alien vs. Predator) has already shifted the attention back to his take on the classic tale, by announcing the names of the actors due to play all of the major roles in his version.
Musketeer movies have never failed to attract some solid acting talent; as not only did the 1993 movie have some big name stars, but 1998’s The Man In The Iron Mask starred Shutter Island’s Leonardo DiCaprico, Appaloosa’s Jeremy Irons, Johnny English’s John Malkovich, Stigmata’s Gabriel Byrne, and Mesrine’s Gérard Depardieu; and Anderson’s movie should be no exception; with Ray Stevenson (Rome), Luke Evans (Clash of the Titans), and Matthew Macfadyen (Robin Hood), attached to play Porthos, Athos, and Aramis respectively.
Anderson’s hero, D’Artagnan, will be played by Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief), with Christoph Waltz continuing his run of bad-guy roles, from Green Hornet and Inglorious Bastards (which won him a BAFTA, and an Oscar, among other awards), by playing Cardinal Richelieu, who will be backed up on the evil front by Mad Mikkelsen (Casino Royale), in the form of Rochefort, and possibly aided by Orlando Bloom (The Lord of The Rings), who is currently in talks to appear as the Duke of Buckingham (another high-and-mighty type that will cause problems for the heroic foursome).
Also attached is Anderson’s wife, Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element); who will be playing a former girlfriend of Athos, and a character that Anderson has written (alongside Bridget Jones’s Diary’s Andrew Davies) as “a 17th century Bond girl”; whom he will once again be filming in 3D (the pair aren’t far off releasing Resident Evil: Afterlife, which, as the trailer announces, time and again, goes beyond the regular two dimensions).
Filming on Anderson’s picture is due to start this coming September, and has a release date set for sometime next year, but as Doug Liman’s version is also slated to start filming this fall, anything could happen, and the two movies could well end up going head-to-head at the Box Office.
