Martin Campbell hasn't had much luck outside the James Bond franchise, having revitalized it twice with GOLDENEYE and CASINO ROYALE (for my money the best James Bond movie ever). Because, besides THE MASK OF ZORRO, he hasn't had very many memorable outings, and even some famous clunkers like GREEN LANTERN and the THE LEGEND OF ZORRO, which couldn't recapture the magic of the first one.
However, his next film sounds promising. It's based on the 1,001 ARABIAN NIGHTS TALES story THE TREASURE OF ALI BABA & THE 40 THIEVES. Interestingly, it also seems like it's going to be a modern retelling of the story. Here's the official synopsis from Deadline:
An adventure novelist gets caught up in a global conspiracy and a hunt for a mysterious antiquity after discovering that his father had a map to the legendary treasure of Ali Baba. He must team up with a brilliant cartographer to locate the artifacts before they fall into the hands of the 40 Thieves—an ancient group who has quietly become a powerful, international syndicate of criminals in high-ranking corporate positions.
Oof. Sounds like a lame NATIONAL TREASURE knock-off with probably uncomfortable racial stereotypes. But I'd love to be wrong! I love a good adventure yarn, so I'd like this to be in that vein. But, like, this sounds like a gritty reboot no one asked for. Hopefully they pull it off, and find a way to not make the 40 Thieves seem like League of Shadow knock-offs.
Meanwhile, no release date as of yet, but Campbell's next film – THE FOREIGNER – will hit the US October 13th.
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