Mickey Rourke Likes Working, Joins 'War of the Gods'

We're definitely seeing the resurgence of the sword-and-sandals movie. Except that instead of swords and sandals, you have swords and sexy guys and tons of beasties and fantastic creatures. If this bothers you, go shake your first at the ridiculous success of 300 and the even more ridiculous success of the God of War video games. Clash of the Titans and Neil Marshall's Centurion are on the horizon. Greek myth is back, baby!

We're also seeing the resurgence of Mickey Rourke, whose work in the seriously incredible The Wrestler has has made him a major player again. And he's finding plenty of love from sci-fi and fantasy filmmakers: Iron Man 2, Conan and now, Tarsem Singh (director of The Cell and The Fall) has cast him in War of the Gods. Like so many movies in this new trend, it won't be a strict retelling of ancient myth, but a mish-mash of various elements. Says Variety:

"Story follows a young warrior Theseus who leads his men into battle with the immortal Greek gods to defeat evil elder gods of the Titans in order to save mankind."

Rourke will play the movie's villain, King Hyperion. What King Hyperion wants or does is unknown. I can presume he stands in the hero's way in at least a few scenes.

I'm always down for more Greek mythology on screen and I'm always down for Mickey Rourke getting to work. I'm especially down to see Tarsem Singh, one of the most talented visual filmmakers working today, direct what sounds like an epic adventure story. Let's see what happens.