Liam Neeson To Begin First Film Since Wife Natasha Richardson's Death

LOS ANGELES — Liam Neeson is set to begin work on his first film since the death of his wife, Natasha Richardson.

Neeson will play Zeus, king of the gods, in a remake of "Clash of the Titans" opposite Ralph Fiennes as Hades, ruler of the underworld. Louis Leterrier ("Transporter 2," last year's "The Incredible Hulk") will direct the film, which is scheduled to begin production in the United Kingdom later this month, Warner Bros. said Thursday.

Longtime friends Neeson and Fiennes haven't shared the screen since 1993's "Schindler's List." Also among the cast are "Casino Royale" villain Mads Mikkelsen, Sam Worthington of the upcoming "Terminator Salvation" and Alexa Davalos ("Defiance").

The original "Clash of the Titans" from 1981 starred Laurence Olivier as Zeus.

This marks the first project for Neeson, 56, since Richardson's death in a skiing accident. The 45-year-old actress died March 18 after falling and hitting her head during a lesson at Quebec's Mont Tremblant two days earlier. He had signed on to star in the movie before her death.

Neeson's most recent movie, the kidnapping thriller "Taken," became a surprise hit with nearly $140 million at the domestic box office earlier this year. He just finished work on the Atom Egoyan film "Chloe," which he was in the middle of shooting when his wife died.

Comments

[eXcommunicate]

Love the original, but it hasn't aged well at all. I thought the actress of Andromeda, Judy Bawker, was the most beautiful woman on the planet when I was a kid. Looking back at it now, she's still incredibly beautiful. I can't wait for this remake. I was going to write my own take on the Medusa/Perseus myth, but they beat me to it.

[RonNYC]

good for him for going back to work.
i just wish it was a better project.

[LMPE]

The original "Clash of the Titans" was a horrendous mishmash of mythologies. The Kraken is Scandinavian, the witches are from "Macbeth" and the owl is from one of the Oz stories. Not to mention that the acting rivaled that in an Ed Wood movie.

Maybe they can improve it here.

[superlive]

The Witches are from MacBeth?

You Philistine...

The witch scene in MacBeth was lifted from the Perseus myth by Shakespeare! In the Greek Legend they were known as the Graeae (Gray Sisters) and had only one magic eyeball betwixt them, Perseus stole the orb and ransomed it in exchange for info about the location of the nymphs hiding the magic implements (Cloak, Sandals, and Pouch) he would need against the Gorgons.

http://www.mythweb.com/heroes/perseus/index.html

[TheBaffler]

Harryhausen claymation > CGI.

[robiform]

I'm glad that Liam Neeson is returning to work, and I'm also glad that he's working with his friend Ralph Fiennes. They both helped make "Schindler's List" a masterpiece. HOWEVER. . .a remake of "Clash of the Titans"??? I've seen the original several times, and while the special effects were clunky, to say the least, I don't understand why we need a remake. It wasn't too long ago that a remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" was released--and it flopped! Really, Hollywood suits, not every movie made more than twenty years ago needs to be remade!

[superlive]

The Day the Earth Stood Still underperformed domestically, but worldwide: $230,831,978.
That's from a production budget of "only" $80,000,000. It was one of the most successful US films in overseas markets EVER.

I also looked up info on Clash while on boxofficemojo.com.

In 1981 Clash of the Titans was the #11 domestic box-office grosser with $41,092,328.

If you can believe it, Time Bandits was #10 and Bo Derek's version of Tarzan was #15!!!

The other 2 Sword & Sorcery epics of that year:

#18 Excalibur $34,967,437 (Liam Neeson as Sir Gawain)
#50+ Dragonslayer $14,110,013

Although, I dare anyone to argue that Dragonslayer has not aged the best out of the three.

[sweetwilly]

neeson & fiennes together again. could be the worst movie ever made and i'll still be there.

[InfinteShibumi]

Ditto that.

[Bitsko]

Just don't bring back the boring mechanical owl! Fellini had a much better one in his "Casanova."

[happycat]

Hey, I loved that mechanical owl. He was the star of that movie.

[wm1066]

I hope they don't CGI it to death ! Loved the original, I still watch it when its on TV.
Wasn't Honore Blackman Hera?

[Bitsko]

Close. Honor Blackman was in Jason & The Argonauts, another Ray Harryhausen flick.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2d/Honor_Blackman_Jason_and_the_Argonauts.jpg

[superlive]

Clash of the Titans's Hera was played by Claire Bloom.

[ebroadcast]

That should be an interesting remake. I loved the original as a kid, even though the effects left a lot to be desired!

[knosiswar]

Zeus is another name for the Fallen Angel Lucifer, Another name for the Egyptian Sun / Son God Horus / Amen-Ra. The Roman God Jupiter, the father to Mars, great grandfather to the twin founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.

[vandegrasse]

Hollywood is now making remakes of movies only twenty something years old. How dead originality is in tinsel town!

[MarsAmbassador]

What's the problem? Good ideas from the silent era were remade into Talkies, then again into Colour when that landed, and now with new technology, a new audience, new actors in the roles and new takes on classic stories, what's the problem? They did the same thing with radio shows into TV shows. What's old is new again. MY problem is when anything is done poorly, regardless of it being an original idea or the umpteenth dozen time something has been reimagined, such as Dracula or classic literature that has been done in every format imaginable.

[roquelaure]

Haha! I love Clash of the Titans. I think you have to see it the first time as a kid, though. The claymation was pretty bad, but kids don't notice that. The story-telling was very well done, though, and pretty good acting. Certainly, they had a great cast.

[InfinteShibumi]

And I loved the line "Release the Kracken!"

[WilliePilgrim]

Oh no...Clash of the Titans? As a big fan of the old Ray Harryhausen fantasy movies, I have to say that Clash of the Titans was possibly the worst of the bunch...and with the most ambitious of intentions but with the poorest of results, despite the inclusion of some relatively big named hollywood stars. One thing is for sure, a remake couldn't possibly be worse than the original which was at its best ridiculously embarrassing to the viewer.
Liam's a talented actor and I can easily see his classic features sporting the requisite flowing white beard of olympian proportions, but am having a hard time imagining him in any role from a remake of this movie. Never the less, perhaps a bright and visionary team has reached into the story and given today's budgets and special effects will be able to conjure up a miracle of Periclean proportions.

[ellawensmom]

I spent many years of my childhood worried that that creepy guy with horns and a tail was going to snatch me out of my top bunk. Perhaps I can handle it better this time. :)

[Hopalongpoppyseed]

For me, it was the ultimate paranoid movie, the original "Invaders from Mars," that sent me under the covers.

[LetMeUnderstandThis]

Another remake from a industry with little if any ideas left.