Corona | Coming Attractions

UGO's Movieblog was the first to report that Danny Huston, about to be seen in X-Men Origins: Wolverine as Colonel William Stryker, has been cast as the Greek god Poseidon in Clash of the Titans. The news came straight from the actor's mouth.

Yesterday was the first day of principal photograhy for Clash of the Titans. The movie is lensing just outside London, England.

Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes have joined the cast. Neeson will play Zeus, the ruler of the Greek gods as well as father to the film's main character Perseus. Fiennes is the villain of the piece, the dark ruler of the underworld known as Hades who wants to dispose of Zeus.

While Fiennes' deal is still being completed Neeson is a lock. This is the first project for Neeson since the tragic death of his wife Natasha Richardson last month in a skiing accident. As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, Neeson's negotiations for the role of Zeus were worked out before his wife's passing.

Casino Royale's Mads Mikkelsen and The Chronicles of Riddick's Alexa Davalos now join the cast of Clash of the Titans. Mikkelsen will play the leader of Perseus' Praetorian Guard called Draco while Davalos is Andromeda, Perseus' love and the princess he must rescue.

We've just discovered the identity of one more cast member and we know for certain she's in Clash of the Titans because she said it herself. The her we're referring to is Gemma Arterton, most recently seen in Quantum of Solace as Agent Fields and will be seen next summer in The Prince of Persia movie. The British actress revealed that she was playing the role of Io at the Empire Awards last night (and the first online to pick it up that we saw was Slashfilm), which apparently is a new character in the remake as there was no Io in the '81 film.

In Greek mythology Io was a priestess of Hera in the city of Argos. Zeus fell for her beauty and seduced her, then to protect their relationship Zeus turned Io into a heifer. Guys, here's just another bit of proof that even back in pre-Hellenistic times the hot chicks always fall for the bad boy gods and never the nice geeky gods.

Warner Bros. has claimed a March 26, 2010 release date for Clash of the Titans. The only other picture scheduled for release on the same day is DreamWorks' animated family fantasy/adventure How to Train Your Dragon.

Variety reports that negotiations with actor Sam Worthington are underway for him to play the part of Perseus in the film. Worthington's star profile will take a major leap forward next year when he appears in leading roles in two high-profile sci-fi films, the McG directed Terminator Salvation and James Cameron's Avatar.

The trades confirm the exit of Norrington and now report that Louis Leterrier is the project's latest helmer. Leterrier's latest movie opens today in theaters and that's The Incredible Hulk. His other past effort was Transporter 2.

We've got good news and bad news to report courtesy of the boys at Latino Review. First, the happy word is that Warners is "really keen" on making this remake happen thanks to the strength of Kasdan's rewrite. The unhappy news is that Stephen Norrington has apparently departed the project due to "budgetary issues". We didn't know that Bubo the owl could frown.

It looks like Steve Norrington may be returning to Hollywood. After swearing to never make another movie after the explosive experience he had directing 2003's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Norrington is now attached to direct the remake of Clash of the Titans.

When asked if he was considering to direct Clash of the Titans, Robert Rodriguez told AICN that he had been seriously thinking about taking the job based on the draft of the screenplay penned by Lawrence Kasdan but ultimately turned down the offer. Rodriguez said that he said no because the studio wanted to have its film in production before an anticipated strike by the actors union could take place, but the problem was that he wanted to do other non-Clash projects before the strike deadline.

Latino Review is reporting that Spy Kids/Sin City helmer Robert Rodriguez is being thought of by the studio to direct. According to the site's source, Rodriguez is WB's number one choice and he can have the job if he wants it.

A positive script review for Clash of the Titans has appeared over at IESB. The review is of a screenplay dated June 29, 2007 and so it's of the latest draft by Lawrence Kasdan.

The review paints a broad overview of the story's central players and supporting cast as well as lists off what sort of mythological creatures we can expect to see. Those familiar with the original movie will be content to know that the hero Perseus is in it along with other Greek gods and the serpent woman Medusa. However, there does appear to be a fleshing out of the fantastical as the new Clash also includes appearances by Egyptian, Sumerian and Bibical creatures and gods. For example, instead of the Kraken serving as the film's sea monster it's now called Leviathan. Sylphs, nephilim, minotaurs and other new beasts now make appearances. Bubo, the mechanical owl that served as Perseus' companion in the '81 movie is nowhere to be found in this new Clash. Summed up by the IESB reviewer, "This Titan's Clash is closer to Zack Snyder's 300 than to The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad. It's written with a solid R rating in mind with nudity, sex and lots of gore-rific ugly deaths by really bad ass ugly monsters."

The review can be read here.

Warner Bros. has hired director/screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan to do a rewrite of Travis Beacham's Clash of the Titans script. Kasdan is an accomplished filmmaker and storyteller, having co-written 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, and 1980's The Empire Strikes Back, in addition to directing The Big Chill, Silverado, The Bodyguard and more recently Dreamcatcher.

Warner Bros. has commissioned screenwriter Travis Beacham to pen a remake of the 1981 fantasy film Clash of the Titans. Set in ancient Greece, and starring a young Harry Hamlin as Zeus' illegitimate son Perseus, the film's special effects and creatures were made by stop-motion legend Harry Harryhausen. Beacham's update will mirror the original film's story but also treat the material in a darker and more realistic manner.