‘The Wolverine’ Director James Mangold to Helm Disney’s ‘Captain Nemo’

Well this is certainly interesting: Not one, but two X-Men franchise directors are now developing films based on the same classic Jules Verne novel. Bryan Singer is set to helm Fox’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, while today brings word that The Wolverine director James Mangold has signed on for Disney’s Captain Nemo.

Deadline reports that Mangold will helm Captain Nemo, the project David Fincher was previously attached to direct. Captain Nemo is Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea origin story that centers on the eponymous hero in his earlier days, as he sets out to build the famous Nautilus. The project is based on Disney’s own film from 1954, which won three Oscars for the studio back in its early days of live-action filmmaking.

Gothika and The Eye scribe Sebastian Gutierrez is drafting the latest version of the screenplay. A previous draft was developed by Seven screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker back when Fincher was still attached.

Mangold is currently prepping The Wolverine 2, which marks Hugh Jackman’s final outing with the X-Men franchise. The story is said to based on Mark Millar’s Old Man Logan comic arc, with Fox targeting an R rating and a March 2017 release.

Meanwhile, Bryan Singer is developing his 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea film at Fox, which he’ll begin shooting this fall after he gets X-Men: Apocalypse into theaters on May 27.