Randall Wallace, the writer behind such films as Braveheart and Pearl Harbor, has been hired to rewrite McG’s retitled Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

The adaptation of the Jules Verne novel has previously had both Bill Marsilii and Justin Marks aboard for scripting duties, and it looks like the project has now turned to a veteran of the action-epic genre for a little inspiration. The tone that the film is aiming for is an action-adventure, presumably in the vein of the Pirates movies. Wallace, who also wrote and directed the not-terrible The Man In The Iron Mask and We Were Soldiers, woul definitely bring a different pedigree to the screenplay, especially considering how Marks’ Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li turned out.

On the one hand, it’s interesting to see how the new title does suggest that the creative team is pushing for this to be a character-driven movie. I imagine Disney’s trying to reproduce the success they had with Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow. It is a bit worrying though that they may be trying to take a template of what worked for one franchise and applying it to another. We’ll see what Wallace can bring to the table. Even though he hasn’t really knocked one out of the park since Braveheart, it’s at least a step in a more positive direction.

Check out the full Hollywood Reporter story here.

Tags: 20000 Leagues Under The Sea, Captain Nemo: 20000 Leagues Under the Sea, McG, Randall Wallace