Directing an episode of Game of Thrones can be nearly as demanding as directing a feature film — especially when, as Miguel Sapochnik has done, it’s an iconic episode with tons of action, like “Battle of the Bastards” or “Hardhome.” Hollywood took note, and now he’s set to helm a new take on Sinbad.
This isn’t Sapochnik’s feature debut (he made 2010’s Repo Men), but it will be his biggest challenge yet, after wrangling all those armies for HBO. Kyle Killen (TV’s Mind Games and Lone Star; he also co-wrote Adam Wingard’s upcoming Death Note adaptation) is penning the script. The production company, Mandeville Films, is co-producing Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast movie.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the news, the film will be a “re-imagination” of the ancient story that first appeared in The Arabian Nights and has since inspired many films, including 1958 stop-motion classic The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. Presumably, this new version will feature dazzling CG enhancements — and hopefully, a cultural sensitivity in casting and story that other recent Middle East-set fantasy epics (ahem, Gods of Egypt, Prince of Persia) have stubbornly refused to consider.