Whats Next: David Fincher Eying '20,000 Leagues Under The Sea,' Joe Carnahan Favoring 'Killing Pablo'

One of the perks of being a film fan is there's always something to look forward to. We wait and wait for a project to come together and, once the credits roll, we're immediately looking forward to the next thing. Sometimes it's what's coming out next week, other times it's a sequel and in the case of our favorite directors, it's whatever they choose to do next. Two directors who fit into that category, who've both recently finished films, have just dropped significant hints of which projects they plan to tackle next.

David Fincher's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo came out last month and talk almost immediately began about the sequel, The Girl Who Played With Fire, being greenlit. And while that's likely the case, it's looking less and less likely that Fincher will return. Reports are that he'll finally make a movie he's been attached to and developing for some time, a 3D remake of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.Joe Carnahan's latest, The Grey, opens in two weeks so he too is eyeing his next project. Like Fincher, his name has been attached to a bunch of different projects but in a new interview he suggested he'll do the Pablo Escobar drug-drama Killing Pablo next, possibly followed by the crime noir White Jazz.

Read more about all these projects and more after the jump.

The Playlist cites an unnamed, but reliable source who believes Fincher will shoot 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by the end of 2012. In the past, Fincher has spoken about the massive CG element to the film so there will a considerable amont of post-production, making it virtually impossible for him to do The Girl Who Played With Fire for next Christmas as Sony is hoping. The Playlist's story also cites some rumors of behind the scenes drama on Dragon Tattoo which are also pushing Fincher to make a movie elsewhere.

As for Carnahan, he's been talking about and trying to make Killing Pablo since 2007. It's based on a book by Mark Bowden (Black Hawk Down) about the massive manhunt to apprehend Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar and Edgar Ramirez has long been in the conversation to play the mass murderer.

Carnahan told The Playlist that, yes, that film looks like it'll happen next:

I've waited so long to make 'Pablo' and now I have it kinda greenlit. It's basically ready to go. We're going to the casting phase.

He confirmed that Ramirez was still a strong canidante for the role but that other names were in the mix too. However, since that film obviously need some location shooting, Carnahan said another project he's been attached to for several years, the 1950s crime drama White Jazz, could shoot first:

If I had to have a prohibitive #1, it's Pablo. Pablo will go first, absolutely. Unless 'White Jazz' lands because it's L.A. and I could do it and sleep in my own bed at night. That might knock 'Pablo' out of the top spot.

Do you want Fincher to do 20,000 Leagues next? Which film would you prefer Carnahan would make?