Do you remember back in 2002 when Kevin Reynolds—the guy who made Waterworld—made a movie called The Count of Monte Cristo? It starred Luis Guzmán and some other dudes? The one about the guy who breaks out of prison and then uses a treasure he gets told about to pose as someone else and exact revenge on those who wrongly imprisoned him? Well, it’s a little known fact that this story didn’t actually originate with the 2002 film. It was actually written by a guy named Alexandre Dumas (sounds Italian) quite a bit earlier than 2002. An even more obscure fact is that Dumas is the same guy who wrote that Three Musketeers movie that Paul W.S. Anderson made in 2011. Or something, I dunno, all of these Hollywood guys are tough to keep track of.
The point of this helpful and informative history lesson is that we’re about to see another retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo, one that’s going to have very little to do with Kevin Reynolds or Luis Guzmán. THR is reporting is that David Goyer, the guy who wrote The Dark Knight (but he didn’t actually create Batman, that was another guy, I think Stan Lee?), has just signed on to hop into the director’s chair and give us his take on Dumas’ story from 1844 (that’s earlier than I thought, was his script written pre-Code?).
Of course, seeing as the Dark Knight trilogy was such a moneymaker, the producers of this film are hoping that Goyer can bring the same sensibilities that brought him success there over to this project as well. Their belief in the Dark Knight formula is so strong, in fact, that it’s being reported that they are internally referring to Goyer’s Monte Cristo as “a 19th century Dark Knight.” That comment, of course, sounds like senseless gibberish when you first hear it, but seeing as the entire second act of The Dark Knight Rises basically became a 21st century version of “The Count of Monte Cristo,” maybe they know what they’re talking about? If Goyer’s versions of Fernand, Danglars, and Villefort all wear steampunky masks that help them breathe, then we’ll know that he had a vision all along.