“Dear, Hollywood. Miguel Sapochnik. Pay attention to that name. After what he pulled off multiple times on this past season of Game of Thrones, he deserves all the freaking high profile projects he can get.” That’s what I wrote on Facebook earlier in the year after being absolutely blown away by what director Miguel Sapochnik did on episodes of Game of Thrones, from the fifth season’s fantastic “Hardhome” to the Emmy-winning sixth season two-parter “Battle of the Bastards” and “The Winds of Winter”.
That last two in particular saw Sapochnik use the acclaimed fantasy-drama TV series to put to shame many similar offerings from big budget Hollywood productions, with his epic action choreography, editing and handling of multiple plot lines. And it seems that Hollywood noticed.
THR is reporting that Sapochnik has been tapped to helm a new feature film adaptation focusing on the adventures of Sinbad, the classic middle eastern folk hero. The swashbuckling adventurer is most famous for his appearance in “One Thousand and One Nights”, the immense collection of Arabic folk tales from the 13th century, but has gone on to solo popularity in just about every format of storytelling. Hollywood has got in on the Sinbad action multiple times over the years, with 1958’s The 7th Voyage of Sinbad – which boasted the legendary stop-motion visual effects work of the late Ray Harryhausen – probably being the most famous.
This new version is being developed by production studio Studio 8 and will be scripted by Kyle Killen, who is more well known as the creator of brainy television shows such as Lone Star and Mind Games. Just what direction his script will take is up for grabs as there are so many popular Sinbad tales to choose from for an adaptation. Whatever his pitch was though, it seemed to really impress Studio 8, who had this to say about it:
“Sinbad was a rare comprehensive and engaging pitch which lends itself to an international audience and big visual set pieces but also distinct and unique actor roles for a diverse cast of characters. This project is part of Studio 8’s ongoing commitment to working closely with filmmakers on the re-imagination of genres.”
Sapochnik has been doing fantastic work on TV for the last few years, not just in Game of Thrones but also in other series like House, Banshee, Fringe, True Detective and even in Mind Games as well – which would explain his partnership with Killen. This will be the first time he helms a feature film though since his 2010 debut Repo Men. I actually kind of enjoyed that bit of sci-fi action, despite the general critical consensus. Sapochnik already showed off hints of his future brilliance there as well in an Oldboy inspired hallway fight scene that is just jaw dropping. Now it’s time for him to show Hollywood how much better he’s gotten since then.
Last Updated: October 21, 2016
James Francis
October 22, 2016 at 07:52
After Clash of the Titans I am very skeptical…