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Dead Arrivals: Linklater's Liars (A to E) & McG's 20,000 Leagues

by Alex Billington
November 17, 2009
Source: Variety, Movieline

Two project have both been confirmed as dead on arrival today. First, Richard Linklater's very next project, Liars (A to E), has been canned, the first victim of Miramax's downsizing. Back in early October, the indie studio was forced to cut most of their employees and reduce the number of films they put out to only three or so per year. Movieline reports today that Liars (A to E), about a newly single girl who takes a roadtrip to Obama's inauguration, which was supposed to be next from the studio, is no longer happening. "It didn't really work out. It's tough," Linklater told them. He had even cast Rebecca Hall and Kat Dennings as leads.

The second new DOA project is Disney's Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which was going to be directed by McG. Either some Disney execs finally got the chance to see Terminator Salvation and wondered why they have McG directing one of their movies, too, or this is just another casualty of the regime change at that studio. Variety reports that the studio has officially stopped production on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and McG has officially withdrawn as director. The project will now go on the shelf until Disney's new chairman, Rich Ross, think it's a good time to put it back into production once again.

This news can either be taken as a good or bad news, but for me, it's bad, because I was actually looking forward to both of these projects. Especially because I heard that 20,000 Leagues had things like "an island full of cannibals and exploding volcanoes," which just sounds crazy and awesome. McG is now focusing on other projects he's attached to, but Linklater doesn't have anything lined up next, including School of Rock 2. "I don't think I have anything coming up!" Linklater excitedly said. So is this good or bad news?

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