Ray Harryhausen creations will return to the screen in Force of the Trojans

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Back in the early 1980s, legendary visual effects creator Ray Harryhausen was trying to put together a sequel to the 1981 film CLASH OF THE TITANS (pictured above), which he had produced and created the effects for. While the CLASH OF THE TITANS remake got a sequel called WRATH OF THE TITANS, the sequel to the original was meant to be called FORCE OF THE TROJANS. 

A script was written by Beverley Cross, who had written CLASH OF THE TITANS as well as previous Harryhausen films SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER and JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS. Harryhausen drew up concept art of the creatures featured in the script, like the Charybdis, "a monstrous mutation of octopus, triton, and sea serpent". Unfortunately, despite the fact that CLASH OF THE TITANS had become an instant cult classic, Harryhausen had trouble finding financing for the project and ultimately decided to retire from filmmaking.

Around that time, Harryhausen set up the Ray & Diana Harryhausen Foundation, a charitable Trust that protects his name and body of work while archiving, preserving, and restoring the collection of his films, models, etc. More than thirty years later, the Foundation has announced that they are teaming up with Morningside Productions, the company started by Harryhausen collaborator Charles H. Schneer, to finally get FORCE OF THE TROJANS made.

FORCE OF THE TROJANS is said to 

revolve around the adventures of Aeneas after the fall of Troy and feature various creatures from Greek mythology.

Working from Cross's screenplay and the art and sculptures created by Harryhausen, the new film will 

embody the spirit of the original Harryhausen films with all the fun, vibrant action, epic scope and dedication to craftsmanship that has made Ray Harryhausen’s films timeless.

The creatures Cross and Harryhausen imagined will be brought to life through a combination of classic stop-motion animation and modern CGI effects.

Unlike other revisits to the fantasy adventure genre, Force of the Trojans will bring together stop-motion animation with the photo-real world of CGI, marking the first time that a monster battle will mix both techniques on screen in a major motion picture. In homage to a bygone era, this film will bring both worlds crashing together. For the first time, we can put on screen sequences that were not possible for Ray due to the limitations of special effects photography at the time.

Sadly, Harryhausen, Cross, and Schneer have all passed away since the days when they were thinking of making FORCE OF THE TROJANS together, but this is an exciting way to honor them. I look forward to seeing how this will turn out, and I hope the CGI won't overwhelm the stop-motion too much. This needs to be more like the '81 CLASH OF THE TITANS than the 2010 remake.
 

Concept sketch from unrealized project, 'Force of the Trojans', detailing the formidable Charybdis! #Harryhausen100 pic.twitter.com/sGh61op5xu

— Ray Harryhausen (@Ray_Harryhausen) March 9, 2016

Ray, working on a clay maquette of the head of Scylla, a creature from unmade 'Force of the Trojans' #Harryhausen100 pic.twitter.com/0YInNeGb54

— Ray Harryhausen (@Ray_Harryhausen) March 24, 2016