A decade is never really complete without four or five movies, television shows, or animated adaptations of Alexandre Dumas’ “The Three Musketeers.” This decade is a little light, with only 2001’s The Musketeer and a 2004 cartoon version staring Mickey Mouse, so thank heaven for Millennium Films and their decision to make yet another one. Their reason for picking this particular story to tell has less to do with the book’s swashbuckling adventure and humor and more to do with good old fashioned dollars and sense. It’s free.
As is made clear in the Variety report, Millennium wants to focus on “branded properties.” Particularly branded properties where the creator is dead and the material is in the public domain, as is the case with "The Three Musketeers." So, in addition to a movie about the French swordsmen, Millennium is looking revive the characters of Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja, Buck Rogers, and Hercules. As Millennium executive Joe Gatta bluntly puts it, “There aren't many branded properties like this out there, and it is a seller's market for the high-profile ones. You can either build one from scratch or find the ones that are available and of interest to audiences…”
That is very true, of course. You can come up with a new, original, exciting idea that will capture audiences or you can serve up the scrapes from the same old bowl of gruel. Not even fresh gruel, were talking Krusty-Brand Imitation Gruel. Four out of five orphans can’t tell the difference. The Millennium Musketeer movie plans on going back in the story to the meeting of Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. Can’t wait.
