It's funny — we were just talking to someone last week about the slow decline of Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote and/or directed some of the '80s best films of their respective genres, including The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Body Heat, Silverado and The Big Chill. Little did we know how desperately he seems to regret not having a piece of the cult 1981 sword-and-sandals classic Clash of the Titans, a Kasdan-written, Louis Leterrier-directed remake of which is now on the way from Warner Bros.

Then, right on cynical cue, Relativity Media and the vampires who brought you 300 announced they had attached Tarsem Singh to direct some fucking "mythology epic" called War of Gods. So confusing, Hollywood! Is it a clash or a war? And must we really have it both ways?

Michael Fleming has more heart-pinching details at Variety:

The original 1981 Clash of the Titans starred Harry Hamlin as Perseus and Laurence Olivier as Zeus but is best remembered for Ray Harryhausen's visual effects that brought to life Medusa, the Kraken and other creatures. ...

[Gods producer Gianni] Nunnari said his film has the goods: "Gods, titans, warriors and a fantastic script. An incredibly visionary filmmaker like Tarsem and a partner like Relativity who fought and won already in a battle in getting the package that everybody wanted."

Making matters worse, the duel recalls Deep Impact v. Armageddon, Volcano vs. Dante's Peak, Vice Versa vs. Like Father Like Son, Capote vs. Infamous and countless other cutthroat genre races to the release-date finish line, reminding us that only one of these titles can ride its bad greenscreen, CGI and oil-slicked abs to the summit of Mount Blockbuster. As Kasdan has earned our ever-dwindling benefit of the doubt, we'll grudgingly call our shot early. But without Harryhausen's signature cheese or the late Burgess Meredith's guest spot as Perseus' Athens-by-way-of-Brooklyn sidekick, it's just another day for us in the development trenches, sobbing for our childhoods.

• 'Gods' go to War with 'Titans' [Variety]

Tags: 300 | clash of the titans | lawrence kasdan | tarsem singh | the end of ideas | war of gods | warner bros.