Neeson, Fiennes to Clash in ‘Titans’

Published by Jeff Leins on: April 9th, 2009

Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes will play warring gods in Clash of the Titans, a Greek epic directed by Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk).  The “reimagining” of the 1981 classic is scheduled for March 26, 2010.

Neeson has signed to sling lightning bolts as Zeus, leader of the gods and father to main character Perseus (played by Sam Worthington).  This is the first announced deal since the tragic death of his wife, Natasha Richardson, though it was finalized before the accident.  Zeus was played by Laurence Olivier in the previous version.

Fiennes is in final negotiations to star as Hades, lord of the underworld who plots to overtake Zeus.  The British actor would need to fit the role in his schedule, sandwiched in between filming performances as Voldemort in the Harry Potter series.  He’s also in talks to star in the Ricky Gervais comedy The Men at the Pru.

They’ll both need to be ready to go soon because the movie starts shooting at the end of April in the U.K.  The two great actors would join Worthington, former Bond girl Gemma Arterton (as Io), Alexa Davalos (as Andromeda), and Mads Mikkelson (as Draco, head of the Praetorian Guard).  Lawrence Kasdan (Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark) wrote the screenplay.

I hope they use stop-motion again.  That would be great.  State of the art special effects and top acting/writing talent and they’re facing off against choppy clay skeletons.