Sinbad Gets Lost in Time

In The Asylum’s upcoming take on the Arabian Nights tale of Sinbad, The 7 Adventures of Sinbad (US-2010; dir. Adam Silver and Ben Hayflick), Sinbad seems to have found himself in modern times, going on the poster and the pictures so far provided. Thankfully though, there’s a wide variety of monsters.

Synopsis:

Sinbad, the original Prince of Persia, must complete seven tasks in order to save the world from catastrophe.

Memorably filmed in the Ray Harryhausen epics The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (US-1958; dir. Nathan Juran), The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (US-1974; dir. Gordon Hessler) and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (US-1977; dir. Sam Wanamaker) — each of them featuring some of the greatest stop-motion animation sequences ever produced — the tale of Sinbad has been a source of cinematic inspiration of a long time.  The earliest I’ve been able to discover (without more extensive research) is the short comedy version Sinbad, the Sailor (US-1919; dir. Norman Dawn), followed in the 1930s by Sinbad Khalashi [aka Sinbad the Sailor] (India-1930; dir. Ramchandra Gopal Torney) and a few cartoons — not the least of which was Dave Fleischer’s classic cartoon Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor (US-1936), which as it happens is also set in then-contemporary times, thus allowing for the presence of Popeye, Olive Oyl and Wimpy.

Sorry, where was I? The Asylum’s new one… Yep, this is Sinbad, as played by Patrick Muldoon.

Once again the “shadow” production company is getting in early as a significant number of Sinbad films are currently slated for production/release. These include (from a fairly cursory glance through the IMDb listings):

• Sinbad: The Fifth Voyage (US-2010; dir. David Winning), currently in pre-production from a company encouragingly named Giant Flick Films) and starring Patrick Stewart. Synopsis: “When the Sultan’s first born is taken by an evil sorcerer, Sinbad is tasked with traveling to a desert of magic and creatures to save her.”
• Sinbad and the Minotaur (US-2010; dir. Karl Zwicky), produced by Limelight International Media Entertainment for the SyFy Channel.
• 1001 Arabian Nights: The Adventures of Sinbad — dated 2010, but currently “in development”, details unknown.
• Sinbad: Rogue of Colossus — variously dated 2010/2012, currently “in development”, details unknown.

It’s probably fair to say, however, that The Asylum’s version is going to be the only one where Sinbad wields an automatic pistol, sails the seas in a speedboat and fights Somalian pirates.

I’m guessing this Sinbad has been transported to modern times, or is immortal, or perhaps resurrected. Or is he going to be a descendant of the original Sinbad? Whatever.  Chuck in the requisite monsters, and all I can say is, “Why not?” If Popeye can do a “modern” take, why not The Asylum?

More stills in the Gallery below.

• Source: Official website
• Writer: Robert Hood  |  Research: Avery Guerra

Gallery: