Anthony Hopkins is a great actor. Sure, he can stand at the buffet line and hand out the ham like no one else, but he has the ability to project intelligence, class, calculation, and unnerving self-control. E=ven an actor of his stature, however, can't be satisfied with everything in life. Sometimes a man looks around the backyard, thinks "I'd like a new pool with a waterfall and an IMAX screen on one end and robot sharks that took drink orders." But you don't want to dip into savings. So you pick up the phone and call the agent: look in the pile for something I can do quickly, and mostly in front of green screens, say, the end of the summer? Thus:

A realistic movie with lots of accurate period detail? Oh, absolutely:

I'm thinking that if you can kill a mermaid with magic, you probably have magic enough, but I'm no expert.