Hollywood is notorious for its bandwagon tendencies. Notice how many vampire flicks surfaced immediately following the success of the “Twilight” films? This time around the trend centers on Jules Verne’s classic undersea adventure, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” And since it’s in the public domain, studios won’t have to embarrass themselves with cheap and transparent attempts to copy another film’s success while tip-toeing around copyright issues.

We reported Saturday that Disney cut director McG loose from their version of the story, which is already well into development, in favor of the directing prowess of David Fincher.  But THR is now reporting that Fox has decided to get in on the action and develop a “20,000 Leagues” movie of their own.

One might think that Disney, with a heavy-hitter like Fincher attached, has the upper hand in this pre-production studio duel.  But THR reports that director/producers Ridley and Tony Scott through their Scott Free banner are heading up development for Fox and plan to produce.  “Clash of the Titans” co-writer Travis Beacham is said to be taking a crack at the script, and “Wanted” director, Timur Bekmambetov, tops the list for directing duties.

Sources say that this version will closely follow the novel’s structure but will be set in the future with heavy sci-fi elements.