Deadline broke the news that Warner Bros. has accepted a pitch from Dwain Worrell, writer of the film ‘Walking the Dead’, to make an adaption of Dante Alighieri’s 14th century epic poem ‘The Divine Comedy’ and will begin with the first of the three books that make the poem, ‘Dante’s Inferno’.
The original poem, set in 1300, is split into three parts/books, Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. In the ‘Inferno’ poem Dante, heart broken by the lost of his love, Beatrice, is met by the dead poet Virgil while walking in the woods. In ‘Inferno’ Dante is guided through the nine circles of Hell by Virgil.
The film adaption will follow Dante through the nine circles to save the woman he loves. This is where the film will differ from the poem, at no point does Dante seek to save his Beatrice. In fact in the in the poem Beatrice saves Dante at the end of ‘Purgatorio’ and replaces Virgil as Dante’s guide through ‘Paradiso’.
Warner Bros. is not alone in their plan for a Dante adaption. Universal also has plans in place to make their own ‘Dante’s Inferno’ , which is set to be directed by the ‘Evil Dead’ director Fede Alvarez and based on a video game by the same name, where Dante appears as a Templar Knight.
This news makes me both excited and nervous. As a fan of Dante’s works, I’m excited that studios are looking to classic literature for inspiration. I am concerned, however that they are changing the stories. I truly hope they do Dante and ‘Inferno’ justice. Hopefully the films will inspire people to read Dante’s volumes.
