Say what you will about the quality of “Battle: Los Angeles” or “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning,” but with those films bringing in $202 million and $51 million, respectively worldwide (the latter on a slim budget of $16 million), the bottom line is that even if critics don’t get with director Jonathan Liebesman, audiences seem to. And with “Clash of the Titans 2” around the corner, Warner Bros. want to make sure they stay in the Liebesman business.
The studio has picked up a pitch from the director for an epic tale about Julius Caesar that could possibly span two films. Deadline reports that Liebesman came up with the idea while on the set of ‘Titans 2’ and it won’t be a biopic per se, but instead be grander “Patton“-esque tale about the famed historical figure. The film will cover the period when “Caesar was sent to Spain on a detail no one else wanted. There, he built the 10th Legion fighting force that would eventually march on Rome, overrun the forces of his close friend turned rival Pompey, and establish Caesar as the unrivaled ruler of the empire.” The film will be sweeping drama that will of course contain some big action set pieces and the door will be left open for a follow-up that would detail the events leading up to his assassination.
The project is seen as a star vehicle and it has some intriguing talent penning the screenplay. “The Hurt Locker” scribe Mark Boal‘s brother, Chris Boal, will write the script. He’s been earning some buzz for his play “23 Knives” which, incidentally, is also about Julius Caesar but instead uses the little known historical figure of the physician Antistius and chronicles his journey to try and find the truth behind Caesar’s murder via his autopsy of the body. Now that’s a movie we’d want to see. But alas, Liebesman’s vision will go forth, and Boal, who clearly knows the ins and outs of the story, will make it happen.
It’s not yet confirmed if this will be Liebesman’s follow up to ‘Titans 2’ but if it’s the success WB hopes it will be, you can bet they will want him to get back to swords and sandals fare as fast as possible.