More Ancient World Action...

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Brace yourself for Dante's Peak with togas! It turns out that Roman Polanksi (Chinatown, Rosemary's Baby, The Pianist) is at work on a film adaptation of Robert Harris's bestselling novel Pompeii.


The plot: Pompeii tells the story of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79 through the eyes of a young engineer, Marcus Attilius, who is sent to repair the greatest aqueduct in the Roman Empire, which brings water to 250,000 people on the Bay of Naples. Attilius not only has to fight the corrupt forces that control the town of Pompeii, but ultimately the overwhelming power of nature itself.

Ancient epic meets disaster blockbuster - as the one unmistakable vendor at the Durban cricket and rugby stadiums would say, "What a delicious combination of flavours!"


The only drawback? Apparently Orlando Bloom, along with Scarlett Johansson, are being considered for the leads. Johansson isn't a problem at all, but Bloom's lack of commanding presence has a tendency to sink historical projects when he is the lead - Troy, Kingdom of Heaven. Audiences may have been saved though... according to the ComingSoon article above, the two stars' involvement may have already been halted by scheduling conflict.

Polanski is currently touting Pompeii at the Cannes Film Festival, and filming is supposed to start in either Summer this year, or sometime in 2008.

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