Logan Lerman, Ray Stevenson, Christoph Waltz And Mads Mikkelsen In Paul WS Anderson's Three Musketeers 3D

How is it that there are competing Three Musketeers movies? Just as Doug Liman is confirmed as director for the Warner Bros. production, which is being fast-tracked to begin production this fall, we've got word on the cast for the other Three Musketeers movie, to be directed by Paul WS Anderson for Summit.

According to THR, Anderson has Logan Lerman in negotiations to play D'Artangan, the young man who journeys to Paris to become a Musketeer of the Guard, while Ray Stevenson, Luke Evans and Matthew Macfadyen have been cast as Porthos, Athos and Aramis, aka the three musketeers of the title.

Then, on the antagonist side, there are Christoph Waltz as Cardinal Richelieu, Mads Mikkelsen as Rochefort, Milla Jovovich as Milady de Winter, described in this take as a "17th century Bond girl."

Finally, an offer has been made to Orlando Bloom to play the Duke of Buckingham. This would be a much less action-intensive role for Bloom than he played in the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

Quite a lineup; that's easily among the most impressive casts Anderson has put together. Will that matter when all is said and done? The director is said to be going for a "contemporary feel," and the movie will be in 3D. Anderson co-wrote the screenplay, with Andrew Davies, and has previously said of the film,

We are definitely modernizing 'The Three Musketeers' without compromising the fun of shooting a period piece...But in our film, corsets and feathered hats don't take center stage. Our version is rich in eye-popping action, romance and adventure.

Anderson is finishing the latest Resident Evil movie right now, after which he'll move on to The Three Musketeers, and then likely direct Buck Rogers.

And just to forestall the question, remember that Sony has said that Logan Lerman is 100% not going to be Spider-Man in the new film that is being cast now. So that shouldn't have any bearing on whether or not Lerman takes this role. Unless Sony was lying as part of a negotiating tactic, which is possible.