Twentieth Century Fox has picked Shawn Levy to direct their remake of the 1966 science-fiction classic Fantastic Voyage. The film is being produced by James Cameron so of course the film will be in 3D.
With a resume filled with comedy films such as the Cheaper By The Dozen remake, the two Night At The Museum films and last spring’s Date Night, Levy certainly doesn’t sound like a conventional choice. But the two Museum films have certainly given him a background in visual effects and he currently has the science-fiction action flick Real Steel in post-production. Perhaps the studio execs have seen something in that project that has indicated to them that he can handle this film.
Levy has beat out some pretty stiff competition for the job, with Darren Aronofsky, Timur Balmambetov, Peter Greengrass, Jonathan Mostow and Louis Laterrier all being considered by the studio.
The 1966 original, directed by Richard Fleischer, told the story of minituraized surgical team inserted into the body of a scientist to repair brain damage from an assassination attempt from the inside. Besides racing against time, the group must fight off the scientist’s own immune system as well as a saboteur in their ranks. Although it had an imaginative story and some good special effect work for its time, the movie is still best remembered by some for the image of star Raquel Welch in a white, skin tight wet suit.
