Ridley Scott May Be Directing ‘The Merlin Saga’ for Disney

Deadline just reported that Oscar-nominated director Ridley Scott is in talks to finalize the finer points of a deal to adapt the story of the wizard Merlin. Based on the T.A. Barron book series about arguably one of the most famous wizards in lore, The Merlin Saga would follow the magic-slinger during the years long before King Arthur.

Lord of the Rings co-scribe Philippa Boyens is set to write the feature film. Scott Free (Ridley’s company) will co-produce with Gil Netter, if all goes well and the film gets the official go-ahead.

Sure, on the surface, Sir Ridley Scott making a film about the wizard Merlin for Disney seems like a really weird choice. Scott making ANYTHING for Disney seems like a weird choice, but then you recall the majority of his recent films have been FOX releases, and now with The House of Mouse taking control of FOX… you get the idea.

It was just a month ago the director stated in an interview that he was “too dangerous for Star Wars,” which is amusing considering it too falls under the Disney banner. But then, of course, he ALSO said his Alien franchise at this point “should be bigger than Star Trek and Star Wars.” Perhaps this Disney partnership will signal a new era of Scott’s work, theoretically targeting a new audience with the feature.

We’ll let you know when/if this deal gets cemented.