ANGELINA JOLIE - WANTED DIRECTOR TO TAKE TO HIGH SEAS WITH MOBY DICK

WANTED DIRECTOR TO TAKE TO HIGH SEAS WITH MOBY DICK

Timur Bekmambetov has been lined up to direct a reimagining of Herman Melville's Moby Dick, reports claim.

The Wanted director has a development deal with Universal Studios and is set for a voyage to the ocean to battle the legendary whale, Variety reports.

While Melville's classic novel uses the first-person narration of Ishmael to relay the story of captain Ahab's damaging obsession with killing Moby Dick, the Universal update will use a 'graphic novel-style', it is believed.

Audiences will be presented with historic examples of the whale's destructive power while the character of Ahab is to be given a greater back-story.

"Our vision isn't your grandfather's Moby Dick," said screenwriter Adam Cooper said.

"This is an opportunity to take a timeless classic and capitalize on the advances in visual effects to tell what at its core is an action-adventure revenge story."

His colleague Bill Collage added: "We wanted to take a graphic novel sensibility to a classic narrative."

Bekmambetov, who made his name with the visual flair of Russian-language action hits Night Watch and Day Watch, is currently developing a sequel to Wanted, his summer success story starring James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie.

The Russian's deal with Universal also sees him working on a number of small-scale Russian-language pictures for Universal's international production companies.