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{{Infobox film
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| gross = $105,600,000<ref name="mojo">{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=clashofthetitans10.htm|title=Clash of the Titans (2010)|work=[[Box Office Mojo]]|publisher=[[Internet Movie Database|IMDb]]|accessdate=April 4, 2010}}</ref>
| gross = $105,600,000<ref name="mojo">{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=clashofthetitans10.htm|title=Clash of the Titans (2010)|work=[[Box Office Mojo]]|publisher=[[Internet Movie Database|IMDb]]|accessdate=April 4, 2010}}</ref>
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Revision as of 23:57, 5 April 2010

Clash of the Titans
Directed byLouis Leterrier
Written byLawrence Kasdan
Travis Beacham
Phil Hay
Matt Manfredi
Produced byBasil Iwanyk
Kevin De La Noy
Richard D. Zanuck
StarringSam Worthington
Mads Mikkelsen
Alexa Davalos
Danny Huston
Gemma Arterton
Pete Postelthwaite
Ralph Fiennes
Liam Neeson
CinematographyPeter Menzies Jr.
Edited byVincent Tabaillon
David Freeman
Music byRamin Djawadi
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
April 2, 2010 (2010-04-02)
Running time
18 minutes
CountriesUnited States
United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$105,600,000[1]

Clash of the Titans is a 2010 fantasy film which is a remake of the 1981 film of the same name. This remake is very loosely based upon the Greek myth of Perseus.[2][3][4] Directed by Louis Leterrier and starring Sam Worthington, the film was originally set for standard release on March 26, 2010.[3][4] It was later announced that the film would be converted to 3-D and was released on April 2, 2010.[5][6]

Plot

The film begins with a narration describing how the Olympians managed to overthrow their own creators, the Titans, through the aid of the Kraken, Hades's creation. After their fierce struggle, Zeus (Liam Neeson) became the King of the Gods, his brother, Poseidon (Danny Huston), the Lord of the Seas, and their brother, Hades (Ralph Fiennes), tricked by Zeus to rule the sickening Underworld in chaos and terror.

A coffin is then seen drifting through the sea before it is rescued by a fisherman, Spyros (Pete Postlethwaite). When Spyros opens it, he discovers the baby Perseus and his mother, Danaë, inside and raises the boy as his own. Perseus does not know who his real father and mother are, and worries that he will be neglected when his adoptive parents have a child of their own, but Spyros reassures him of his love. Years later, Perseus (Sam Worthington) and his family are fishing when they witness a group of soldiers from Argos destroying a massive statue of Zeus, effectively declaring war on the gods. Immediately following the fall of the statue, Hades rises from the ocean, killing most of the soldiers and then destroying the boat Perseus and his family are on. Perseus attempts to save his family from the sinking boat, but is unable to, and passes out on driftwood from the wreckage. The surviving soldiers find him and take him back to Argos.

When King Cepheus (Vincent Regan) and Queen Cassiopeia (Polly Walker) of Argos, at a feast for the returning soldiers, compare themselves to the gods and compare the beauty of their daughter, Andromeda (Alexa Davalos), to that of Aphrodite, Hades appears again, killing the remaining soldiers. When Perseus is unaffected by his attack, Hades realizes he is a demigod, and tells him of his true father, Zeus. Hades kills the queen, and demands that Argos further pay for its insolence and vanity; in 10 days, the Kraken will be released, and if the princess Andromeda is not sacrificed, then Argos will be destroyed. Hades then seeks out the gods on Mount Olympus and convinces Zeus to agree to his plan in order to punish mankind for their lack of love.

Initially, the Argives see Perseus as an agent of the gods and imprison him, but the king later seeks his help. A woman named Io (Gemma Arterton), who has been watching over Perseus his entire life, advises him that the only way to avenge the death of his family is to agree to the king's wishes and attempt to defeat the Kraken. He is sent out with a small group of soldiers, led by Draco (Mads Mikkelsen), along with Io to seek the Stygian Witches, while Hades visits Acrisius (Jason Flemyng), a disfigured man who was married to Danaë when Zeus impregnated her with Perseus. When Acrisius planned to kill his wife and the new born Perseus, Zeus sends down a thunderbolt from Olympus, badly scarring and disfiguring Acrisius's entire body. To help him achieve his goals, Hades imbues him with superhuman powers to enable him to kill Perseus. Acrisius attacks the Argive group, killing several, and even when his hand is severed in the fight, his blood falling on the sand causes giant scorpions to rise from the desert and continue the attack. Perseus and the Argives manage to kill the first two scorpions, but are surrounded by three more, even larger than the first. As they are about to attack, the scorpions are suddenly calmed by a group of Djinn, gentle and benevolent Sand-Demons with magical powers. There is initially mistrust between the two groups, until the chief heals Perseus of grave injuries sustained during the fight, and the two sides agree to cooperate.

Perseus and his group, via the scorpions, arrive at the barren, rocky "Garden of Stygia", the site where the Gods ended the Great War and defeated the Titans. They find the three Stygian Witches, who are hideous and share one eye. They tell Perseus, after he threatens to throw their eye off the mountain, that Medusa's head will be able to kill the Kraken, but that he will die in the process. The soldiers go to the Underworld, where Medusa lives in seclusion in a temple, and only the soldiers enter (Io cannot because she is a woman). Medusa turns all the remaining soldiers into stone, the Djinn destroys himself with his heart, weakening Medusa, and Draco, who is gravely injured by one of Medusa's arrows early in the fight, rescues a cornered Perseus by skewering Medusa with a stone pillar from the ceiling and allows himself to be turned to stone in order to give Perseus a clear shot at Medusa's head. Perseus, eyes shut, kills Medusa. As he exits the temple, Acrisius returns and stabs Io. Perseus fights him again and, this time, successfully kills him, which turns Acrisius back to human form. Io dies, telling Perseus "this is the part of the journey you do alone..."

Perseus finds Pegasus and flies back to Argos as the Kraken is being released, thus destroying the city. As a priest is about to sacrifice Andromeda, Hades appears, and has his creatures attack Perseus and steal Medusa's head. Perseus defeats the creatures and regains the head, as well as successfully turning the Kraken to stone before it consumes Andromeda. Hades appears once more and boasts that he cannot die because he is immortal; but Perseus throws his sword, charged together with Zeus's lightning at him which banishes him to the Underworld. Perseus then saves Andromeda from drowning when the apparatus used to restrain her falls into the ocean, but refuses to become king of Argos.

In the final scene, Perseus stands at the broken statue of Zeus seen at the beginning. Zeus appears and offers to make Perseus a god on Olympus; but he refuses. Zeus notes that Hades will return one day for revenge when mankind is in fear. Zeus states that if Perseus is still intent to stay on earth then he might give him a gift since he is the son of Zeus after all. A resurrected Io appears before Perseus, and the two begin to embrace while Pegasus flies above them.

Cast

Production

The Clash of the Titans remake began development in 2002 under producer Adam Schroeder and writers John Glenn and Travis Wright. They wanted to drop the element of the gods playing chess.[13] Producer Basil Iwanyk revived the project in 2006 with a rewrite by Travis Beacham, a fan of the original.[14] Lawrence Kasdan and director Stephen Norrington signed on in 2007.[15] But Norrington was unsure about his direction for the project, because he did not grow up with the original. Leterrier, who did, contacted Norrington through their shared agent about replacing him by June 2008.[16][17] Leterrier noted the original Clash of the Titans inspired the climax of his previous film The Incredible Hulk – a battle in a burnt-down courtroom with temple-like columns – and has compared modern superheroes to Greek mythology.[18][19] Writers Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi reworked Kasdan's script,[20] which had been written with a PG-13 rating.[21]

Leterrier sought Ray Harryhausen's involvement,[16] and reunited with Hulk concept artist Aaron Sims, who had already been working on Clash of the Titans with Norrington.[22] Sims considered many options while designing the iconic Medusa, "Are they all the same snake [in her hair]? Do they look more like hair? Are they different in silhouette or in light? And how much of a human face does she have, or is it more like a snake?...I was working on one design, and people said 'That reminds me of Voldemort,’ because there was no nose."[23]

Filming locations

Filming began April 27, 2009, in London at Shepperton Studios. Filming also took place in Wales and the Canary Islands(Spain), primarily in Tenerife (more specifically in the Teide National Park, World Heritage Site), while aerial photography was to be conducted in Iceland and Ethiopia.[2]

Filming of volcano scenes at the Harriet hole in Dinorwic Slate Quarry in Wales wrapped at the end of July.[24] This slate quarry has also been used for locations for Willow and Street Fighter.[25]

Release

Clash of the Titans was originally set for standard release on March 26, 2010.[3][4] The Heat Vision Blog reported on January 27, 2010 that after a 3-D conversion test of the film which Warner Bros. found to be a "roaring success," the film would be converted to 3-D and would premiere on April 2, 2010.[5][6]

Box Office

Clash of the Titans opened with a $64.1 million in domestic gross and about $105.6 million worldwide in its first week even with the critism of its conversion to 3-D after original shooting was finished.[26]

Critical reception

Review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 31% of critics have given the film a positive review, based on 157 reviews with an average rating of 4.3/10. The site's consensus stated that "An obviously affectionate remake of the 1981 original, Louis Leterrier's Clash of the Titans doesn't offer enough visual thrills to offset the deficiencies of its script."[27] On Metacritic, the film was assigned a weighted average score of 38 out of 100 based on 30 reviews from mainstream critics.[28]

In his review for the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars out of 4, stating that "I don't say it's good cinema, although I recognize the craftsmanship that went into it. I don't say it's good acting, when the men have so much facial hair they all look like Liam Neeson. I like the energy, the imagination, the silliness".[29] James Berardinelli gave it a mixed review concluding that Clash of the Titans is a flawed but mildly entertaining regurgitation of Greek mythological elements, but it's also an example of how poorly executed 3D can hamstring a would-be spectacle.[30] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone awarded the film one star out of four, criticizing it for being "a sham, with good actors going for the paycheck and using beards and heavy makeup to hide their shame."[31]

In a review for the Chicago Tribune, the film only got one star.[32]

Video game

A video game adaptation of the film is being developed by Game Republic and will be published by Namco Bandai Games America Inc. and Warner Bros. Interactive. The game will allow players to take the role of Perseus and follow a story based on the film.[33] Namco Bandai Games America Inc. set the release for summer 2010.[34] This will be the first major movie (i.e., one having a US$100 million dollar-plus budget) for which the video game tie-in will be released only on the game consoles (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) with no PC version, according to publisher Namco Bandai.[35]

References

  1. ^ "Clash of the Titans (2010)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Clash of the Titans Commences Production for Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures". Business Wire. April 25, 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c "Medusa's Head Hiding Within Perseus' Sack? Three Blind Witches!". Bloody-disgusting.com. October 2, 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
  4. ^ a b c "New Clash of the Titans Remake Stills". Dreadcentral.com. October 2,this movie will not be good as a remake of a classic is like doing a remake of Star Wars, ET, or very good film then make them worse than bad 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ a b "3-Deathly Hallows: Titans and Potter go to third dimension". Heat Vision Blog. January 27, 2010. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Clash of the Titans Official site: Film poster". Clash-of-the-Titans.WarnerBros.com. February 2010. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
  7. ^ Looking for a Three-Way? Dig on the New Clash of the Titans One-Sheet
  8. ^ Leak: First Full Look at Medusa and the Kraken in Second Clash of the Titans Trailer!
  9. ^ - (2009-04-28). "Izabella Miko zagra Atenę". Film.interia.pl. Retrieved 2009-04-28. {{cite news}}: |author= has numeric name (help) Template:Pl icon
  10. ^ "Bond villain and girl team up for Clash of the Titans remake". MI6.co.uk. 2009-04-01. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
  11. ^ Rene Rosa (2009-04-28). "Exclusive: Danny Huston To Play Poseidon In Clash Of The Titans Remake". UGO Networks. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
  12. ^ "Exclusive set Photos: Clash of the Titans". Crave. 2009-05-18. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
  13. ^ Michael Fleming (2002-06-03). "Col sends J. Lo to Shrink". Variety. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  14. ^ Pamela McClintock (2006-04-30). "Scribe goes to head of Clash at Warners". Variety. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  15. ^ Michael Fleming (2007-12-13). "Norrington to direct Titans". Variety. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  16. ^ a b "Leterrier parle de son Choc des Titans". EcranLarge.com. 2008-07-12. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  17. ^ Michael Fleming (2008-06-26). "Gods goes to war with Titans". Variety. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  18. ^ Louis Leterrier and Tim Roth's audio commentary for The Incredible Hulk, 2008 DVD by Universal Studios Home Entertainment
  19. ^ "News Etc". Empire. April 2008. pp. 15–16.
  20. ^ "Mike Richardson on Dark Horse's Upcoming Goodies". UGO Networks. 2008-11-12. Retrieved 2009-01-17.
  21. ^ Robert Sanchez (2007-08-04). "Exclusive Script Review: Clash of the Titans Remake!". IESB. Retrieved 2009-04-10.
  22. ^ "Interview: 'Clash of the Titans' Character Designer Aaron Sims". Bloody Disgusting. 2010-03-31. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
  23. ^ Jennifer Vineyard (2008-10-27). "Clash Of The Titans Designer Gives Medusa A Bad Hair Day For Remake". MTV Movies Blog. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
  24. ^ Filming Clash of the Titans at Dinorwic - July 2009
  25. ^ Clash of the Titans Sticking with 2D Format
  26. ^ "The Gods Smile on Clash of the Titans Remake". L.A. Times.
  27. ^ "Clash of the Titans reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2010-04-02.
  28. ^ "Clash of the Titans reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  29. ^ Ebert, Roger. "Clash of the Titans - Roger Ebert reviews". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2010-04-01.
  30. ^ Berardinelli, James. "Clash of the Titans". Reelviews.net. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  31. ^ Travers, Peter. "Clash of the Titans review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  32. ^ Movie Review: "Clash of the Titans": 3-D Makes the Film More Difficult to Follow in Places, and So It Crashes to Earth., Chicago Tribune, April 2, 2010
  33. ^ "Clash of the Titans video game to be released with upcoming remake of the film next year". Examiner.com. 2009-10-13. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
  34. ^ "More New Images: Namco's Clash of the Titans - The Video Game". Dread Central. 2010-03-26. Retrieved 2010-03-26.
  35. ^ http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2009/08/26/clash-of-the-titans-the-video-game-announced-by-namco-bandai-release-date-march-26-2010.htm

External links

Official
Database
Filming Locations