Finding an actor to play the lead role of Perseus — the demigod son of Zeus — in the new Clash of the Titans (out Friday) proved a difficult task for the mortals working on the film. “The studio said, ‘You don’t need Brad Pitt, but find somebody interesting,’” says producer Basil Iwanyk. “We interviewed every really thin actor in his 20s, but we kept asking, Can these guys swing a sword? Can these guys jump on a horse?” Sam Worthington had recently finished shooting Terminator Salvation and Avatar, so there wasn’t any question the rugged 33-year-old could handle a weapon while riding a flying stallion. But the actor didn’t know if he wanted the part. “I wasn’t very familiar with the original movie, so I had to make sure it was something worth rebooting,” he says. “Sometimes you can remake something when the original is fine. But when I looked at the 1981 movie, I knew straightaway we could improve on it. Especially the visual effects. Stop-motion was great in its time, but I thought we could ramp it up a bit.”
Oh, they ramped it up, all right. If nothing else, Clash of the Titans will make you believe a horse can fly — especially if you are watching the winged Pegasus in 3-D.The effects were done with CGI, but director Louis Leterrier took pains to make the greenscreen experience as realistic as possible on soundstages outside London last summer. “They would build half a scorpion on the set, or put a guy in a green-stocking suit so that I could hit him,” says Worthington. “I learned from Avatar that you need something to react to. You can’t act with just a tennis ball in front of you. Your body and mind react differently when there’s actually something there.” According to Gemma Arterton, who plays an angelic guide helping Perseus, Worthington was almost too good with invisible costars. “Sam’s done so many of these big movies,” she says, “I think it’s probably easier for him than working with real people. He’s a great guy, but we may have got on his nerves.”
For more on Clash of the Titans, plus a look at where the stars of the original 1981 film are now, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, on stands April 2.
lol wtf EW, that cover is horrible
Is that some sort of fire effect in Photoshop?
The cover is intended to be camp, just like the movie. Sorry, that its not obvious, but I got it right away.
Too much fire, feeling warm and woozy…
And how in the world did they manage to capture Sam Worthington’s ONLY bad angle??
I do like the Jesse James tagline at the top though.
Yeah, I do wish it was more like his Details cover. That picture is awesome!
When was Jesse James ever lovable?
I mean this sincerely, but what is/was Jesse James career? I know he was on some reality show about cars? Was he a WWE wrestler before that or something?
And I have fond memories of the OG Clash of the Titans so I’m kind of hating on this remake. Is the mechanical owl going to be in it?
hc — nope, no mechanical owl. they have too much respect for the mechanical owl so they decided to leave it alone
hc, he started/owns West Cost Choppers, which makes custom motorcycles. He’s also had a couple of cable network shows about that business.
And ‘Ugh’, I would be one of the people who was quite fond of him prior to the trainwreck. I thought him to be a very smart, kind, sincere person – but apparently my BS detector was broken.
So excited! Loved him in Avatar, been slowly trying to see every Sam Worthington movie since. His take on Macbeth was…interesting, but I’m so glad he’s on the cover!
Me too! Both Gettin’ Square and Somersault are on Netflix to Watch Instantly. I recommend both
I’ve heard this movie is terrible, particulary in 3D. I was so looking forward to it, too.
I guess Netflix will be my option.
That cover is ridiculous.
ITA, where are the dragons?
The movie looks ridiculous; the cover looks even more ridiculous. I thought for sure you guys would have Bones gracing the cover (for the first time) in honor of their 100th.
James Berardinelli of Reelviews reports that the 3d effects are so bad that it leaves you dizzy, sick, and nausesous
this is a converted movie and was never intended to be 3d, it wasn’t shot or planned for as a 3d movie.
Terribly cheesy cover. I love how you’ve taken one of the most ruggedly attractive actors today (one who’s actually hit puberty, omg!) and made him seem goofy. *sigh*
I’m assuming since it’s April Fools Day, that EW is just messing with us by pretending this (literally) hot mess is the cover, and that they’ll reveal the real deal later today.
Yeah, the “Where Are They Now” featuring Harry Hamlin *HAS* to be a joke.
NTM: “..starring the guy from Avatar”
Photo is like something out of 300, Gladiator and all those other films which are starting to blend. Will there be a similar cover for Robin Hood?
Needs more Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson.
I’m pretty sure Jesse James isn’t the most hated man in America. There are several that rank above him, despite the fact that he’s defiled his marriage to one of America’s most beloved women. Other than that, yeah, I agree with some of my fellow comment-makers: silly. I also agree with my fellow Allie: where is Bones??
LOVE the original, can’t wait for this one! Though I’m a little stung by Sam’s comment about Harryhaussen’s visual effects; dude back in the day that shiz was amazing! And actually I just watched this movie last Friday and thinking about the fact that all of those effects were done sans computers makes it pretty amazing. It’s so much easier to do effects now with computers, I think some of our actors forget what a huge challenge special effects used to be.
He did say that the effects,for that time period, was good. He’s right. I love the 80s Clash of the Titans but when I watched it recently I was distracted by the effects. There are certain movies wherein the effects, no matter how crappy, do not distract from the movie. Unfortunately, Clash of the Titans isn’t one of them.
California, sounds like our social schedules aligned – I watched the original on cable Friday too (for the billionth time).
I love the original – which I will hereby refer to as “The REAL Clash of the Titans”. I have mixed feelings about the new version, and based on everything I’ve heard I’m going to just wait and catch it on DVD.
For me, the effects in the original don’t distract from the story, so that’s probably why I like it more. I do agree though, some older films are harder to watch and enjoy now because some of the effects haven’t aged very well.
Ambient Lite, our social schedules totally aligned! lol I have been so upset because I have Clash of the Titans on VHS but can’t find it and I’ve been dying to watch it for ages. I was sooo excited on Friday when it was on TCM. I’ve been pretty excited and mixed feelings over the new one. We have tickets for Saturday in 3D and from other people’s posts I am rather regretting that.
Wow did WB force you put their turkey on your cover, did they threaten to cut more EW staff?
It’s the biggest movie opening this weekend and probably the biggest movie coming out this spring. It was obviously going to be on the cover at some point.
Seriously. Some of the complaints are valid, but this one’s stupid.
At least they’re timing the cover with the opening of the movie, not waiting three or four weeks like they did with Avatar.
Can’t wait to see this movie!!!