Paul W.S. Anderson Takes On The Three Musketeers in 3D?

By Kevin Coll • September 2, 2009 • 4 Comments

So I have always wondered what it would be like if the guy who brought us Death Race and Resident Evil brought us a swashbuckling action film on The Three Musketeers. Okay so that is a lie I have never considered the idea but I am now. Paul W.S. Anderson is trading in bullets for breeches as it’s been announced he’ll be bringing The Three Musketeers back to the big screen – in 3D! Anderson is producing the film with his Impact Pictures partner Jeremy Bolt and Robert Kulzer from Constantin Film, Constantin will be financing the picture.

For the modern day version, Anderson co-wrote the script with Andrew Davies (Bridget Jones’s Diary, Pride and Prejudice) and the aim is for the film to have a contemporary film whilst keeping within the realm of the tale’s historical setting:

“We are definitely modernizing ‘The Three Musketeers’ without compromising the fun of shooting a period piece,” said Anderson, who hopes to shoot in France and Germany. “But in our film, corsets and feathered hats don’t take center stage. Our version is rich in eye-popping action, romance and adventure.”

The last big hit for a Musketeer film was the Disney version back in 1993 starring Charlie Cheen, Kiefer Sutherland, Oliver Platt and Chris O’Donnell. I loved that movie as a kid, not sure about now but that was a decent adaptation. In 2001, the classic novel got a terrible adaptation, called The Musketeer, directed by Peter Hyams, this version was a financial disaster and starred Tim Roth and Mena Suvari. The film was unique in terms that it had European swordplay and martial arts mixed and even used the popular wire work stunts from the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Perhaps the only other Musketeer film we have seen in awhile was The Man in the Iron Mask, starring Gerard Butler Gabriel Byrne and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Perhaps the best Alexandre Dumas adaptatation of the past 20 years has been the Count of Monte Cristo with Jim Cavieziel and Guy Pierce. If there was a Musketeer movie that looked like that then I’d be down. I will say this besides the 3D, Anderson could deliver a unique vision of the classic tale perhaps a little grittier and darker, more violent perhaps? I mean you get a good cast, i.e. – Gerard Butler – someone like that.

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