Greek mythology may be next big Hollywood trend

October 4, 10:04 PMCapital District Movies ExaminerJim Dixon

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"Percy Jackson and the Olympians:  The Lightning Thief"  (c) 20th Century Fox

The next big trend in movies just might be…Greek mythology…? It might be a natural, if you think about it. Greek mythology is high concept by definition. Heroes, gods, monsters, and opportunities for special effects galore.

Twentieth Century Fox will open the unwieldy titled “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” based on the first in a series of novels for young readers by Rick Riordan. Logan Lerman plays the title character, a boy who finds out he’s the son of the god Poseidon. Sean Bean plays Zeus, Kevin McKidd plays Poseidon, Pierce Brosnan plays Chiron, Uma Thurman plays Medusa, Rosario Dawson plays Persephone, and an uncredited Ray Winstone, who replaced Robert DeNiro in Martin Campbell’s “Edge of Darkness,” plays Ares, the god of war.

Percy, who’s been diagnosed with dyslexia andADHD, lives in modern day New York City. When he takes the elevator to the very top of the Empire State Building, he finds Mount Olympus, home of the mythical Greek gods. It looks a little like Hogwarts. 

"Clash of the Titans"  (1981)  Photo:  http://www.xxlmag.com/

If the tactic of casting big adult names in as supernatural characters while an unknown kids plays the title role sounds familiar, you might not be surprised to find out that the movie was directed by Chris Columbus, director of “Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone” and “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.”

Meanwhile, Louis Leterrier, director of “The Transporter” movies and “The Incredible Hulk,” is directing a remake of the 1981 movie, “Clash of the Titans,” which was based on the myth of Perseus, who decapitates Medusa and uses her head as a weapon. The original was the last gasp of Ray Harryhausen’s style of stop-motion animation special effects, which had thrilled audiences in the sixties in the delightfully cheesy “Sinbad” movies and “Jason and the Argonauts.” By the eighties, it was beginning to look creaky. Nonetheless, “Clash of the Titans,” which starred Harry Hamlin as Perseus, Laurence Olivier as Zeus, Ursula Andress as Aphrodite, Claire Bloom as Hera, Burgess Meredith and Maggie Smith, performed credibly at the box office and has become a cult favorite. (Harry Hamlin and Ursula Andress, despite a substantial age difference, became romantically involved during the making of the movie.)
 

Liam Neeson on the set of "Clash of the Titans"  Photo: newsinfilm.com/?p=25641

Sam Worthington, who was featured in this summer’s “Terminator: Salvation” and stars in James Cameron’s upcoming “Avatar,” plays Perseus opposite Liam Neeson as Zeus and Ralph Fiennes as Hades. Gemma Aterton, Alexa Davalos and Mads Mikkelsen (“Casino Royale”) are also featured.

“Clash of the Titans” is scheduled to open on March 26, 2010, just a little more than a month after “Percy Jackson.” Should either/or click at the box office, you can expect a lot more mythology-themed pictures.