According to an exclusive report by The Hollywood Reporter, Paul W.S. Anderson will direct POMPEII, a period-set volcano adventure recounting the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and the destruction of the ancient Roman city. That's not all, POMPEII will follow the similar template of TITANIC, which also centers on a love story.
Constantin Film is financing and producing the big-budget movie, while Summit Entertainment has secured the rights for the U.S. distribution. As for now, no cast has been announced yet.
However, here is how the story sounds like:
Set in late summer 79 A.D., Pompeii revolves around the slave of a shipping tycoon who dreams of the day he can buy his freedom and marry his master's daughter. What the slave doesn't know is that she's already been promised to a corrupt Roman senator, while he's been sold to another owner.
Just when things can't get any worse, Mt. Vesuvius erupts with the power of 40 nuclear bombs. But the slave is trapped on a ship headed for Naples, separated from his love and best friend, a gladiator who is trapped in the city's coliseum. As fire and ash destroy the only world he's ever known, the slave is determined to get back and rescue them.
Just when things can't get any worse, Mt. Vesuvius erupts with the power of 40 nuclear bombs. But the slave is trapped on a ship headed for Naples, separated from his love and best friend, a gladiator who is trapped in the city's coliseum. As fire and ash destroy the only world he's ever known, the slave is determined to get back and rescue them.
Sources indicate that Anderson will start shooting POMPEII in spring 2012 from a script by Lee Batchler and Janet Scott Batchler (BATMAN FOREVER).
Hmm... RESIDENT EVIL director is doing TITANIC-style disaster epic? Kinda skeptical about his decision to helm such genre but then again, we'll never know.