'Sinbad' Movie Coming From 'Battle Of The Bastards' Director Miguel Sapochnik
Miguel Sapochnik has a lot of nerd cred going for him at the moment. The director is fresh off of directing two fan-favorite Game of Thrones episodes, "Battle of the Bastards" and "The Winds of Winter." The Emmy-winning director hasn't made a feature film since 2010's Repo Men, an entertaining, albeit messy, B-movie that didn't connect with audiences and was possibly held back by compromises. Six years after making his feature directorial debut, Sapochnik has another film in the works, and it's about the legendary adventures of Sinbad.
Below, learn more about the new Sinbad movie.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Studio 8 won a bidding war over this project. Sinbad is described as "a new take on the tales of one of literature's most enduring fantasy heroes." The adventurer has been depicted many, many times in film and television, most famously in 1958's The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, which features some iconic stop-motion work from the late Ray Harryhausen.
Sinbad originated in the Middle East. The character became more known to Western readers when Arabian Nights — a series of stories about the character — came out. The last time we saw Sinbad in a major release was in 2003's Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas. It's a mostly forgettable animated movie starring Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Kyle Killen is writing Sapochnick's Sinbad film. The screenwriter created the shows Lone Star and Mind Games. He also wrote two very good dramas more people should've seen, The Beaver and Scenic Route, and co-wrote Netflix's adaptation of Death Note. Mandeville Films' David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman (The Fighter and The Divergent movies) are handling the producing side of things on Sinbad.
In their statement, here's what Studio 8 had to say about the project and its "distinct and unique actor roles for a diverse cast of the characters":
Sinbad was a rare comprehensive and engaging pitch which lends itself to an international audience and big visual set pieces but also distinct and unique actor roles for a diverse cast of characters. This project is part of Studio 8's ongoing commitment to working closely with filmmakers on the re-imagination of genres.
As for what's next for Sapochnik, he directed an episode of Netflix's Iron Fist. He's also attached to make the post-apocalyptic film Bios, which is about a robot programmed to protect its dead creator's dog. Not long after Repo Men Sapochnik was hoping to direct a cop thriller set in London he wrote, but over the past few years, he's been consistently directing for television; he even helmed an episode of Kyle Killen's Mind Games. It's good to learn he's got another feature film in the works, though, and one as big as Sinbad. Let's hope Sapochnik has a little more creative freedom on this project than he did on Repo Men, a movie the filmmaker has talked about wanting to release a Director's Cut of.