Armageddon vs. Deep Impact. Volcano vs. Dante’s Inferno. These are just a couple of the known cinematic battles that have taken place over the years when two movies of almost identical content matter are produced and released around the same time.

Recently we’ve heard about Disney’s plans to make a new movie based on the Jules Verne classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which was originally set to be directed by McG, but will now be delivered by a one David Fincher. Now comes word that 20th Century Fox is developing their very own adaptation of the underwater classic to compete.

In January of 2009, it was announced that director McG, hot off of his work on the not-so-well-received Termination Salvation, would be taking on a new adaptation of Jules Verne‘s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for Disney. Ten months later, the project had been killed off.

Now it looks like Disney has found their replacement, and it is quite the step up on the directorial chain. The studio is set to name David Fincher the new captain of this underwater adventure. Fincher is best known for his psychological crime thriller Se7en, as well as Fight Club, Zodiac, and his recent multi-Academy Award nominee, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Not much was known of the new Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea movie that was well on its way to us, but one might imagine that Disney had plans of bringing another massive water-filled adventure much like their Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. They had gotten so far as to hire Terminator Salvation director McG to helm the flick, and names like Will Smith were rumored for the role of Captain Nemo. None of this matters anymore now, as Disney has slammed the brakes on with force and stopped all forward progress on the project.

The movie was set to tell an origins tale of the fabled Captain Nemo and the building of his ship, the Nautilus. It was actually on the fast track at one point, but it appears that the controversial firing of popular chairman Dick Cook may have knocked it off its course for the time being. The original 1954 film starred Kirk Douglas and it was Disney’s very first live-action film production.

Disney has put a new version of the Jules Verve classic titled 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo on the fast track and signed Terminator Salvation director McG to helm it.

Not many details are known, but the movie will supposedly follow Captain Nemo and the creation of his ship, The Nautilus. It’s being written by Bill Marsilli (Deja Vu).

McG is also in discussions to oversee development and direct the next film in the Terminator trilogy, which is a surprise to me, as I thought he was already in as director on all three. This likely means that Captain Nemo will be one fast-moving project, one Disney apparently wants THIS year.