Things are getting heated in the rivalry between identical sounding films, War of the Gods and Clash of the Titans. HR reports that the two have each picked a cheap star, Henry Caville and Sam Worthington, respectively. Inexpensive actors might help keep the budget down but it won’t help with the bad publicity being garnered by the twins.
The young actors picked have hardly anything on their resume, hence the cheap comment. Henry Caville was in Stardust, while Sam Worthington will be in the upcoming Terminator: Salvation. Their newb status just makes the films seem even more similar.
Epic battles have been fought in the box office during summers over the years, but none are more fraught with strife and publicity than that of the age old cinematic problem: the identical sounding movies. In 1998, it was Armageddon vs. Deep Impact. In 2004 it was Troy vs. Alexander. The newest beef is between these flicks about these two Greek myths.
It sounds like the mantra behind both of the films is: spend a little on some things and a lot on other bits and hope the end result is a big fat moneymaker. Both films budgets are below the $100million mark, so it is obvious that they are planning on making some moolah. The scriptwriter for Clash has four Oscar nominations and wrote Return of the Jedi, while the screenwriting team on War have almost nothing on their resumes. The director for Clash is just coming off of The Incredible Hulk while the director for War has only directed a few films, including The Cell. I’m already feeling which film I’m more looking forward to.
Clash of the Titans is a remake of the 1981 flick. It follows the myth of Perseus as he battles monsters to save a princess. War of the Gods recounts the mythical battle of Theseus, who leads some imprisoned men into battle. Both films seem to be counting on the momentum of 300 to catapult them into moneymaking territory, but neither of them have Frank Miller at their back, like 300 did. May the best movie win.
