'Clash of the Titans' (2010) - Evolution of a Script Pt. 3

by Tristan Mahlow

The last screenplay of 'Clash of the Titans' I will be looking at, is from the year 2008. One year after Travis Beachem's script, Lawrence Kasdan crafted a revised version incorporating the two previous screenplays.

1. Script Summary
2. Script Differences & Similarities
3. Anaylsis
4. Conclusion
5. Questions

1. Script Summary

Zeus slips into the bedchamber of Queen Danae and seduces her in the form of her husband. But when her real husband, King Acrisius, finds out about this betrayal, he curses Zeus and casts his wife and her unborn child out onto the sea, as a acrifice for Tiamat, Godess of the Deep. For this act Acrisius gets punished by the Heavens: he is turned into the monster Kalibos.

On Mount Olympos we come to know, that the Gods want to offer the humans a peace treaty. Only Tiamat and Set are against the treaty and plot to take over Zeus' throne.

The Messenger of the Gods arrives at Joppa, informing King Kepheus of the treaty. The only condition: A marriage between his daughter, Andromeda, and a demi-god we all know, Perseus. 

The next scenes introduce us to Perseus and show us his family, until the unaware Perseus is abducted by The Wilting Girl. On the way to Joppa The Wilting Girl reveals to Perseus his divine lineage. The next scene intoduces us to Princess Andromeda, again going at it with a kitchen servant (is this really the best character defining moment they could think of?). Arriving at Joppa, Perseus and Andromeda meet and decide not to marry, nonetheless they sleep together. 
On the next day the festivities start and the drunk Queen Cassiopeia insults in her toast the Godess Tiamat, provoking her anger. Tiamat appears and issues her ultimatum: If the people of Joppa do not sacrifice Andromeda, Tiamat's Leviathan will destroy the city in thirty days. 
A plan to save the city is formed: Perseus, his adoptive father, Spyros, The Wilting Girl, Amoun and the hunters Mongke and Tamburlane, as well as some prateorian guards take off in the morning to seek the councel of the Norn Sisters. On the way, Perseus falls in love with The Wilting Girl, while giving her a new Name, Vidalia. Back at Joppa, a disciple of Tiamat sets his plan into motion to abduct Andromeda. On their way to the Norn Sisters, the group has to fight a Humbaba, the Lotophagi and Kalibos. Joining them in their last fight: the Djinn Raiders.
Finally they arrive at the Norn Sisters. As we all know, the Sisters tell Perseus that only the stare of the Medusa can kill the Leviathan. Charon's ferry takes them over the Tartaros, arriving at Medusa's Palace. While outside of the Palace most of the group gets killed by Centaurs, Perseus gets the Head of the Medusa. Now the group has to get back to Joppan in the four remaining days. Perseus and Vidalia share the night together. The next morning both are criticised by Amoun, when suddenly Set appears. He kills Amoun, then tries to kill Vidalia, but summoning godly powers Perseus can stop Set. When the few remaining survivors reach Joppa, they are stunned by the vast inhuman army besieging the city. Inside the royal Palace Princess Andromeda gets abducted, as the people of Joppa want to sacrifice her. 
It's about time for the Showdown:
The two armies, Tiamat's and Joppa's, start their relentless battle against each other, while on the other side of the city the Kraken emerges, demanding the sacrifice of Princess Andromeda. Perseus summons a Pegasus and flies over the battle field to save Andromeda, who fell down into the ocean, now exposed to the Leviathan. Perseus can defeat the Leviathan with the help of Medusas' head, Tiamat disappears and Joppa's army can overrun the rest of Tiamat's horde. 
In the aftermath Princess Andromeda offers Perseus the King's throne, but he refuses. The last scene has Perseus speak to Zeus. The young demi-god accepts his heritage and thanks his real father, before going to search for his love, Vidalia.

2. Script Changes
The differences to the last script are only minor. One minor character dissapears, but Calabus makes a return as Kalibos. But now he is not the son of Hera anymore, but the deformed King Acrisius. Accept for these changes the whole structure and all characterizations stay the same.

3. Analysis
The revised  script makes only superficial improvements. The problems of story, motivation and character writing is untoched. But in addition to the problems mentioned in my earlier post, i would like to adress some other things, that really bothered me:
- Reasonable Doubt: How can you doubt the gods, when they are ever present? In this script all kinds of gods, from the highest to the lowest ranks, are running around on earth, very present, but still, every, and I mean every line of dialogue spoken by Perseus revolves around one topic only: Are there Gods? Can I really be a demi-god?
- Avoidance of Dilemma: The script goes out of his way to avoid any kind of dilemma from the start: Instead of making us care for Andromeda by letting Perseus (and the viewer) fall in love with her, letting us care for her, would make seem her sacrifice meaningful. But no! Perseus and Andromeda clearly state that they won't marry on page 37. There goes our dilemma.
- The Female Issue: As I read this script I couldn't help but notice the way women are portraited: Andromeda is shown as a promiscious young girl, who only wants to party and seduce handsome men. Her mother Queen Cassiopeia is the one getting drunk and provoking Tiamat, thus starting the whole ordeal. The Wilting Girl is so helpless, shy and pale, that she does not deserve a name, until a man gives her one. Medusa, of course, the villain they have to defeat turned into the monster she is, after she was disgraced by a man. But not the man turned into a monster, no, the young girl gets punished by the gods and has to hide in her palace far away from every other human being. I can not find words to describe my anger of such things!

4. Conclusion
The story is, on the surface, your typical Hero's Journey, but all the details are wrong! The characters do and say stupid things most of the time; their motivations are foggy and the end is unsatisfaying: All in all not a great basis to make a big Blockbuster.
But this was not the final shooting script, many changes were made before going into production. So, in the movie all the gods were strictly out of the greek mythology (the Villain is then Hades not Tiamat); Perseus family gets killed, which sends Perseus on his quest and so on. 

5. Questions

-  I plan on reviewing certain aspects of these scripts to find out how they work. Are you interested in reading something like this? 

- I still struggle with the ideal length of my posts. Do I write too much? Not enough? Should I structure my posts in some other way?

Other parts in this series:
'Clash of the Titans' (2010) - Evolution of a Script Pt. 1
'Clash of the Titans' (2010) - Evolution of a Script Pt. 2

Your feedback is heartly appreciated!

References: IMDb; Wiki; Roger Ebert; Rotten Tomatoes (28%);

'Clash of the Titans' (2010) - Evolution of a Script Pt. 2

by Tristan Mahlow

Post based upon the script dated January 25, 2007 'First Draft' by Travis Beachem

For the sophomore entry in this series, I take a look at a different version of the Clash of the Titans script written nearly four years after the first. The script was written by Travis Beachem. He takes the basic premise, but turns a few things upside down. Let's begin, shall we?

1. Script Summary
2. Script Differences & Similarities
3. Analysis
4. Conclusion
5. Questions

1. Script Summary
We learn that the Gods started a war against humanity to punish them for not believing in the Gods anymore. But Zeus wants to end this war and thus begets a child with Queen Danae. Her husband does not show much understanding for this betrayal and casts her out onto the open sea. She dies, but her demigod son is rescued by fishermen. Years later, the war still raging, the Gods assemble in the halls of Olympos. They decide to sign a peace treaty with the humans to finally end this war. But Tiamat the Deep and Set the Void are against this treaty, as they live off of the fear and blood of the humans. They conspire against the decision of the gods and want to continue this war. Down on earth a messenger of the Gods delivers the conditions of the peace treaty to King Kepheus, ruler of Joppa: His daughter, Andromeda, is to marry a demigod to seal the bond between the Gods and humans. We get to know Andromeda, when her mother Cassiopeia overhears her having sex with someone from the kitchen staff. On an remote island, Perseus, Zeus son, doesn't know about his ancestry or his future when The Wilting Girl knocks on his door and abducts him to Joppa. On arriving at Joppa Perseus is ordered to find Andromeda, who is out partying. He finds her, drunk and dancing. After exchanging pleasantries, Andromeda confesses that she doesn't want to marry him. But nonetheless they then decide to sleep together.

The next day: The festivities for the marriage are starting, Andromeda is making a sour face, while Perseus is just standing around. At the height of the fest, a tipsy Queen Cassiopeia dares to say that her daughter is more beautiful than Tiamat - then, as any revengeful god would do - Tiamat appears, nearly kills Cassiopeia and punishes the people of Joppa for this incident: For the next 30 days The Leviathan will besiege the city and on the last day, the city will be wiped out - unless Joppa sacrificies Andromeda (thus voiding the treaty with the gods). Kepheus is willing to sacrifice his daughter so save the city, but Perseus stops him: He wants to kill The Leviathan! A group (Praetorians, Monster Hunters, The Wilting Girl, Ammon, Cheops) is quickly assembled to travel to the Norm Sisters. Tiamat orders Set to interfere with our hero and his group. Back in Joppa, Andromeda is fed up with just sitting around and waiting, so she flees. Peshet, her maid, goes after her and learns, that there is an underground movement led by Fantasos to capture Andromeda and offer her to Tiamat. On a whim, Peshet becomes a follower. We learn that The Wilting Girl has to die, while our group fights their way through hordes of enemies (a Humbaba, Lotophagi). They are saved by Djinn Riders, which bring them to the Norm Sisters. These sage creatures tell Perseus the only way to stop The Leviathan is with the head of the Medusa. To fight against her, he also receives a shield. So the group continues to the Tartaros Temple, Perseus goes in blindfolded and kills the Medusa. The rest of the group is slaughtered by centaurs. Returning to Joppa, Perseus and The Wilting Girl fall in love and sleep together. Back at Joppa, everbody is getting ready for the big showdown: Andromeda pouts about being  useless, while The Leviathan kills most of the city's inhabitants. It is revealed that Tiamat ultimately wants to ascend the throne of the Gods. The group - now only consisting of Perseus and The Wilting Girl - arrive at Joppa on the last day, stopped by an army laying siege. The Wilting Girl vanishes without a word. Peshet tries to abduct Andromeda, but finds Andromeda trying to kill herself. In another change of character, Peshet now dies defending Andromeda from her abducters, but in vain. The princess is brought to Fantasos, who wants to sacrifice her to Tiamat. When The Leviathan appears, the army starts an attack on Joppa and is met by their mechanical forces. Perseus summons a Pegasus, flies into the city, saves Andromeda and kills The Leviathan. After the battle, Zeus appears and wants Perseus to marry Andromeda. But he refuses as he loves The Wilting Girl. THE END?!

 
2. Script Differences & Similarities
The basic premise of the script stayed the same: >Perseus has to get the head of the Medusa to save a city<. But so many details, so many things have changed that this is a whole different story. Andromeda was reduced from the tough girl to a wailing, party-hopping, promiscuous princess and this time around she stayed in Joppa. And last but not least: Perseus and Andromeda don't fall in love with each other. The enemy this time is a godess herself, not just a fallen son of a god. 
The only new character is the Wilting Girl: a low godess, helping Zeus. She dies, because nobody prays to her anymore, but nonetheless she and Perseus fall in love with each other.
The Leviathan plays a bigger role in this new script, as it was just a last resort in the previous script.

3. Analysis
To get a clearer picture of the script, I want to take a look at the motivations for our characters:

Perseus: Longing for an important and meaningful life; discovering to be the son of Zeus takes care of that on page 19; what is his motivation for the rest of the movie? He kills the Medusa because he is supposed to do that; at the End of the movie: wants to save the Wilting Girl;
The Wilting Girl: No real intrinsic motivations, she is a servant of Zeus and as such follows his orders;

Andromeda: Really doesn't want to marry; that's about it.
Tiamat: Wants to ascend the throne of the Gods; this is good and believable motivation for our villain;

The Djinn Riders: Another addition to the script, they appear deus ex machina, save the day, and disappear again;

So, after thinking about the motivations, it becomes clear: What is the dilemma? Why should Perseus care, if Joppa is destroyed? In the previous script Perseus cared, just because he cared for Andromeda and that alone is a good motivation to prevent her sacrifice. But in this version, Perseus loves the Wilting Girl. But then why didn't he do everything in his power to save her, instead of saving Joppa (a city he just visited for the first time)? Only after the Leviathan is killed, he starts to think about his love - and walks away from his responsibility to Joppa. Why didn't he do this to begin with? The script cuts back and forth between Joppa and our group, but the Joppa segments don't provide any counterpart to the group segments: On one hand because nothing is really happening in Joppa, and on the other hand the reader doesn't care about Andromeda. So, all in all: the characters took a turn for the worse.
The Villain: Tiamat and Set are the antagonists this time: They want the power of Zeus and prevent the signing of the peace treaty. This is a strong motive (stronger than Calabus' motivation). But in the end they are not defeated! Perseus kills Tiamat's pet, but there is no confrontation between her and Perseus. So, after killing The Leviathan, there are no consequences: After all Perseus doesn't marry Andromeda, will the war continue? Tiamat is still around, she doesn't just stop going after the throne of Zeus, does she?

What didn't work:
- The Motivation: the characters (except the villains) have no real motivations to do any of those things they do in the script, resulting in less suspense.
- Change In Character: Peshet is introduced as the most loyal servant to Andromeda, 50 pages later she wants to kill Andromeda, another 50 pages later she dies saving her; Perseus sleeps with Andromeda, falls in love with the Wilting Girl; - This is not only a problem of motivation for every character; but of their characterisation in general. They do seem all over the place, doing whatever creates a good scene and not doing what fits to one character.
- Unfinished Business: Perseus doesn't defeat Tiamat; this feels unfinished, unsatisfaying. Additionally the script (as the previous one) doesn't find an answer to all those underlying questions about the power of mankind.

What worked:
- The Villains: Tiamat is a interesting character; her threath seems more palpable.
- And Action: the set pieces were interesting, diverse and well-written.


4. Conclusion
The script tries so hard to be different, to be new and original - but it changes everything for the worse. All core ingredients are there again, but twisted and distorted, so they never convey a real sense of story and character. The characters seem to be real problem of this script: they never come alive, they never relate to the reader.

5. Questions
The script hints at "The Iron Horde", which was lost in the war, quite often throughout, but they never play any role whatsoever. Is this planting for a proposed sequel?
After reading my post: What would you have kept from this version of the script?
What changes would you make on this script?

Other parts in this Series:
'Clash of the Titans' (2010) - Evolution of a Script Pt. 1
'Clash of the Titans' (2010) - Evolution of a Script Pt. 3




Your feedback is heartly appreciated!


References: IMDb; Wiki; Roger Ebert; Rotten Tomatoes;