Bekmambetov to direct 'Moby Dick'

Surprise! Surprise! Timur Bekmambetov is all set to direct the big-screen reimagining of Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick,” according to Variety.

You will probably not see as much blood and violence as in Bekmambetov’s recent action hit “Wanted,” but screenwriters Adam Cooper and Bill Collage will bring some changes to the classic tale.

First steps: create a “graphic novel-style” version and eliminate Ishmael’s first-person narrative about Ahab’s obsession with killing the animal.

As the trade says, this change will allow them to depict the whale’s decimation of other ships prior to its encounter with Ahab’s Pequod, and Ahab will be depicted more as a charismatic leader than a brooding obsessive.

"This is an opportunity to take a timeless classic and capitalize on the advances in visual effects to tell what at its core is an action-adventure revenge story," Cooper told Variety.

But with Timur on board to direct, this could indeed work out. The man’s got plenty of talent, although nobody necessarily expected him to helm this kind of project.

Bekmambetov, the director of “Night Watch” and “Day Watch,” is also currently developing a sequel to “Wanted,” which starred James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie.