There have been many potential projects that haven’t come to fruition for David Fincher, from his take on Aaron Sorkin’s “Steve Jobs” starring Christian Bale to his “Black Dahlia” mini-series led by Tom Cruise. But one failed vision people were clamoring for, perhaps above all others, was his adaptation of Jules Verne’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”

Previously brought to life by Disney in 1954 in a beloved film starring James Mason and Kirk Douglas and in 1997 for an ABC mini-series starring Michael Caine and Patrick Dempsey, the story follows a group of scientists and whalers sent out into the open seas to take down a massive sea creature that’s been attacking ships. They soon come to discover that the creature is not a monster at all, but a submarine designed by the emotionally damaged Captain Nemo.

Fincher intended on working with Disney, who still own the IP,...