I have long wondered why Hollywood has put forth so much effort adapting lame-ass books into films for mediocre results at best, while ignoring seminal tales that beg for the big screen treatment. Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick”, widely considered the Holy Grail of American literature, is such a tale, one that has been largely ignored by Hollywood since John Huston’s 1956 version.
Universal has apparently noticed this slight oversight, and have shelled out big bucks to Adam Cooper and Bill Collage to pen a contemporary version of the classic novel. With WANTED director Timur Bekmambetov signed on to direct, this version is set to take what the screenwriters are calling “a graphic novel sensibility to a classic narrative.” They are completely scrapping the first-person narration by the young seaman Ishmael, who observes how his captain Ahab’s obsession with killing poor Moby overwhelms his sound judgment as leader of the Pequod. Apparently this film will focus more on Moby’s destruction of other vessels, and will depict Ahab as a charismatic leader, rather than a grim, man possessed. The screenwriters also had this to say about the film:
Our vision isn’t your grandfather’s ‘Moby Dick’. This is an opportunity to take a timeless classic and capitalize on the advances in visual effects to tell what at its core is an action-adventure revenge story.
Although I would love to see a classic version of the novel adapted for the big screen, I think this redux could still work, especially with Bekmambetov at the helm. I’ve always loved whales, I love love love sperm, I love tales about whales, and I love whale tails. Come to think of it, this has the makings of another classic.
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