Deadline reports that a Medusa film is in development from the writer of Tangled and the production company Seven Bucks. The project draws on one of the oldest and most often retold figures in Greek myth.
The Gorgon Medusa
Medusa is a figure from ancient Greek mythology, best known as the woman with living snakes for hair whose gaze turned anyone who looked at her to stone. She was one of three sisters called the Gorgons. The other two, Stheno and Euryale, were immortal. Medusa was not, and that is why the hero Perseus could kill her.
Even after her death, her severed head kept its power to petrify. In most versions Perseus uses it as a weapon before giving it to the goddess Athena, who sets it on her aegis, a protective cloak or shield. The image of the head on its own, known as the gorgoneion, became a widespread symbol in the ancient world.
According to Deadline, the new screen project comes from the screenwriter behind Disney’s animated Tangled, working with Seven Bucks. The report does not make clear how the film will treat the myth, whether it will be live action or animated, who will be cast, or when it might be released. None of these details is publicly known.
Origins of the myth
The Gorgons are very old. Hesiod’s Theogony, one of the earliest surviving Greek poems about the origins of the gods, names the three sisters and describes Medusa as the mortal one. In that early tradition the Gorgons are simply monstrous beings, born to sea deities and living at the edge of the known world.
The best-known account of how Medusa came to look as she did is much later. In his Metamorphoses, the Roman poet Ovid tells of a beautiful young woman who was assaulted by Poseidon in a temple of Athena. Athena then punished Medusa, not Poseidon, by turning her hair into snakes. This version has shaped most modern retellings, even though older Greek sources do not include it.
The story of her death is told more consistently. Perseus is sent to fetch her head and is helped by the gods. He is given winged sandals, a curved blade, a cap of invisibility and a polished shield, and he looks at Medusa’s reflection in the shield so that he never meets her gaze. When he beheads her, the winged horse Pegasus and the warrior Chrysaor spring from her neck.
Medusa in culture today
Medusa has rarely been out of view. The gorgoneion appeared on Greek shields, coins, temple decoration and pottery. It was probably meant to ward off harm, using a frightening face to scare evil away. A version of the head still sits at the centre of the flag of Sicily.
In Renaissance and Baroque art she became a test of skill and nerve. Benvenuto Cellini’s bronze Perseus with the Head of Medusa stands in Florence. Caravaggio painted her screaming face on a ceremonial shield, now in the Uffizi. Peter Paul Rubens and many others painted the moment of her death or its aftermath.
In the twentieth century Medusa moved into psychoanalysis, feminist criticism and popular entertainment. Sigmund Freud wrote a short essay reading her head as a symbol of fear. Later feminist writers took her as a figure of female anger and of the way women’s voices are silenced. On screen, the stop-motion Medusa in the 1981 film Clash of the Titans, animated by Ray Harryhausen, became a reference point for a generation of fantasy fans. Young-adult fiction, video games and tabletop role-playing games have since made the Gorgon a familiar monster. Recent novels and essays often retell the story from her point of view, as a victim rather than a villain.
Her name also lives on in science. The free-swimming, bell-shaped stage in the life cycle of jellyfish and their relatives is called a medusa, after the trailing tentacles that recall her snakes.
A new film enters this long tradition. Whichever version of the story it follows, it will be choosing among several competing Medusas: the ancient monster, Ovid’s wronged woman, the protective emblem, and the feminist icon.
Common misconceptions
One common error is to treat Medusa as a goddess. In the classical sources she is a Gorgon, a monstrous and mortal being, and her mortality is the whole basis of the Perseus story.
Another is to assume that the sympathetic version, in which she is a victim punished by Athena, is the original. It is a later Roman account. Earlier Greek writers present the Gorgons as monstrous from birth and offer no backstory of transformation. Both traditions are genuine, but they are not the same story.
People also often say that Medusa turned people to stone by looking at them. In most accounts the danger lay in someone else looking at her face. That is why Perseus relies on a reflection.
Finally, film reports are often read as more settled than they are. A project described as “in the works” is at an early stage. Deadline’s report establishes the writer and the production company involved. It does not confirm a cast, a studio release plan or a date, and many projects announced this way change a great deal or never reach cinemas.
Frequently asked questions
Who was Medusa in Greek mythology?
Medusa was one of the three Gorgon sisters in Greek myth. She had snakes for hair, and anyone who looked at her face was turned to stone. Unlike her sisters Stheno and Euryale she was mortal, which allowed the hero Perseus to behead her. Even after her death her head kept its power, and it was later placed on the aegis of the goddess Athena.
Why was Medusa turned into a monster?
In the Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Medusa was a beautiful woman assaulted by Poseidon in Athena’s temple. Athena punished her by turning her hair into snakes. This is the version most modern retellings follow. Earlier Greek sources such as Hesiod do not tell a transformation story, and simply present the Gorgons as monstrous beings from birth.
What is the new Medusa movie about?
Deadline reports that a Medusa film is being developed by the writer of Disney’s Tangled with the production company Seven Bucks. Beyond that, little is publicly known. The plot, the cast, whether it is animated or live action, and any release date have not been confirmed. Projects at this early stage often change significantly before production begins.
How did Perseus kill Medusa?
Perseus was helped by the gods. He received winged sandals, a curved blade, a cap of invisibility and a polished shield. To avoid meeting Medusa’s gaze he looked at her reflection in the shield while he approached and beheaded her. According to the myth, the winged horse Pegasus and the warrior Chrysaor sprang from her neck at the moment of her death.
Why does Medusa appear on so many ancient objects?
The image of Medusa’s head, called the gorgoneion, was widely used in the ancient Greek world on shields, coins, buildings and pottery. It is generally understood as protective: a frightening face meant to turn away danger and evil. The tradition has lasted a long time, and a version of the head still appears at the centre of the flag of Sicily.
Sources and further reading
- Hesiod, Theogony, in a modern English translation: the earliest account of the Gorgon sisters
- Ovid, Metamorphoses, in a modern English translation: the source of the transformation story
- Deadline: trade reporting on the Medusa film project in development
- Museum collections of Greek antiquities and Renaissance art, including the Uffizi Gallery: catalogue notes on images of Medusa
Surfaced from the google:GB signal “a mythological film project”. AI-assisted draft, editorially reviewed.
